


Final Destination

by MareisuinShihaku



Category: Kill la Kill, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: behold it is i who writes pokemon aus and never continues them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-06 10:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1855381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MareisuinShihaku/pseuds/MareisuinShihaku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Satsuki has had enough of her mother's plans for world domination and she runs away from home. Ryuko wants to find out who was behind the murder of her father and she sets out on a journey with her best friend Mako. And sometimes, maybe the best things happen to those who wait.</p>
<p>(pokemon au, takes place in the kalos region, pairings are probably gonna be het i'm sorry)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. a talking sword, a murder, and an underwater chamber - all in a day's work

Vaniville Town was known to several people as ‘the town whose flower is about to bloom’. Teenagers were particularly fond of mocking both its title and the layout of the particularly small town.

It was also the hometown of Matoi Ryuko.

And it was also the town wherein a murder had just occurred.

 

 

 

The police were all over the case, surrounding the ruins of the house with yellow tape. Cars and gogoats alike were parked around the perimeter of the blackened area, with more police officers investigating the charred remains of the burned-down house. 

“Matoi Isshin, an old and relatively unknown scientist, appears to have been brutally murdered in his own house, which then burned into the ground,” a reporter diligently said. “The police have called it a case of both murder and arson, and are currently searching for clues as to what may have happened. One likely witness and suspect is Matoi’s seventeen-year-old only daughter, Matoi Ryuko. However, she appears to have completely vanished without a trace.”

The cameraman switched the view to a man, tall yet slightly hunchbacked with large glasses perched on his face and a long, white coat. “Professor Aikurou Mikisugi claims to have seen Matoi Ryuko near the time of the murder, before the house had burned down. What do you have to say about this, Mikisugi-san?”

“Ah, well…” he paused, taking his time to gather the words. “She seemed in quite a hurry with her best friend, that Mankanshoku Mako girl. Demanded some pokemon from me, and she took a fennekin, while Mankanshoku got a chespin. Then they went off into Route 1, I suppose. I don’t know where they’re going now.”

“I see. Thank you for your time, Mikisugi-san.” The cameraman turned to view the reporter once more. “The police are undergoing investigation as we speak. Or as, well, _I_ speak, hehe, since _you’re_ not speaking unless–”

“Gaby!” the cameraman exasperatedly called.

“Oh, yes!” the reporter cleared her throat, faced the camera, and her face shifted into a more serious expression. “More on this at ten. Stay tuned!”

 

 

 

“That traitorous bastard!” Ryuko growled, biting her bottom lip, a nervous habit she thought she had overcome years ago. “Did he really have to go tell the whole damn world about us?! Now we’re going to have search parties on our sorry asses!" 

“Ryuko-chan! Shh!” Mako hissed. “If you keep yelling, we’ll be found faster!”

While Ryuko didn’t particularly _want_ to keep quiet, she did so begrudgingly, if only for the brunette’s sake. Oh, and her’s.

Her father had been murdered. _Murdered_. She still couldn’t get that fact out of her head.

She had gone home just a while ago, after beating up a gang of delinquents, to see her father’s dead and bloodied body leaning against the kitchen wall. Ryuko had tried to call the paramedics but her fingers kept dialing in the wrong numbers so she gave up and tried to find who had killed her dad. Then _something_ , _someone_ , whatever it was, had _giggled_ for Arceus’ sake, and then a _swoosh_ noise and… nothing.

Ryuko scoured the entire house twice, but found no one of suspicion. There was blood splattered everywhere, starting from the basement, then trailing all the way to the kitchen, where her dad was. So he might have dragged himself over to the kitchen; but for what reason?

“Mako, I’m gonna go check the basement out,” Ryuko announced. Mako’s jaw dropped.

“Wha? Why, Ryuko-chan? The police are still there, you know! Plus, the house’s been burned down, how do you know the basement’s still… well, there?”

“The basement is impossible to find, even if you’re actively searching for it. Me and dad are the only people who know exactly where to find it. And that basement isn’t flammable, I should know that after playing with matches in there and being way too close to a can of gasoline.” Ryuko shrugged on a navy blue jacket over her white shirt to camouflage her against the darkness. “Don’t worry, I won’t take long. Just make sure you don’t get caught, okay?”

Mako tilted her head, still unsure, but nodded. “Okay…”

“Good. I’m off!”

 

 

 

Ryuko slipped under the yellow tape easily enough without being seen, then crawled in the burned house. The basement was buried underneath several charred planks of wood, and she quickly crawled in the trapdoor and shut it, making sure she was still quiet. 

She descended the creaking stairs and looked around nervously in the inky darkness. She wasn’t scared of _ghosts_ , like, no way, but the eerie silence still somehow managed to echo in her ears, if that was possible.

“A trapdoor? It’s still here?”

_Damn it._ Ryuko jumped down the flight of stairs, landing on the unsteady floor with a light _thump_ , thankfully not loud enough to alert whoever was up there (probably the police). She hurried to duck behind a stack of crates that obscured her from view and held her breath as the trapdoor opened.

A bright beam of light, probably from a flashlight, shone in, illuminating the old and grimy floorboards and the centuries of dust gathered around. Ryuko just barely held in a sneeze as two policemen made their way down, the stairs creaking as if they were about to crumble underneath their steps. There was some hushed talking and inquiring about the basement’s state, when they inevitably saw the pool of blood that trailed up to the stairs.

“Blood?” the taller, thinner policeman exclaimed, surprised. “This must be a clue to Matoi’s murder. It’s… leading up… so the murder didn’t occur here?”

“The body was in the kitchen,” the shorter and chubbier policeman mused. “So he must have been injured while down here, then crawled back up to the kitchen, for some reason. Then… he died there, I guess. What do you think?”

Just as the first policeman was about to respond, Ryuko couldn’t hold it in anymore and sneezed, and quite loudly, too. They both spun around in her general direction, flashing the beam of light at her, and she stiffened instantly.

“Who’s there?” the tall policeman’s voice rang out sharply. “Come out! Are you the culprit?!”

Ryuko sighed. Guess there was no hiding it now. She pounced on the shorter policeman, the one with the flashlight, and grabbed it, shining it in their eyes to blind them momentarily. They cried out in surprise and the teen took that time to rush up the flight of stairs and –

“Oh for–” ‘ _Of course they’d have to break now, huh?!_ ’ Ryuko hissed at the pain as a wooden plank fell on her knee, and she struggled to stand back up, but she felt… things wrap around her ankles and wrists, keeping her from moving.

“Stop running away! Who are you?” the policeman demanded, a bayleef beside him.

‘ _So that’s where the vines came from?_ ’ she glanced down at the vines wrapped around her four limbs and nodded. ‘ _Yup, they are._ ’

“Hmm… I don’t feel like telling you,” she drawled, purposefully trying to get a rise out of the two men, and at the same time, not showing her face. From the corner of her eye, she could see the policemen fume at her response. She smirked, grabbing her one weapon from her pocket. “Maybe I should _show_ you!”

She flung the pokeball towards the bayleef, surprising it enough for the vines to loosen and for Ryuko to make a quick escape. The pokeball was a spare, actually; she didn’t have anything in it, and she was only all too aware of her one pokemon being untrained and way too weak to face an evolved pokemon just yet. So –

**_Get me out of here!_ **

“What?”

**_Get me out, get me out! Get me out…! A pokeball? Thank you!_ **

“W-Ah!”

The sudden voice had caused her to drop her guard enough for the bayleef to wrap its vines around her once more. ‘ _Arceusdamnit._ ’ She tugged at the vines futilely, but the bayleef only barked angrily and pulled Ryuko towards itself with surprising strength. ‘ _Arceus, what’s that thing made of?_ ’

Then a pokeball came flying to her face and Ryuko yelled _WHAT THE SHIT_ out loud.

“A – huh?” the policemen looked equally confused at the sudden pokeball, and Ryuko quickly took the chance to grab the spherical object and fling it back at the bayleef, hoping it would get distracted again. Sadly enough, the bayleef only smirked as the pokeball bounced off its cream skin, falling to the ground and wobbling slightly.

Oh, and _then_ a pokemon came out in a beam of red light right out the pokeball and Ryuko started screaming expletives again.

It was a honedge, probably; Ryuko only saw those in her science textbooks, but she was fairly sure that honedges unsheathed were silver swords, not blood red and looking like one half of a scissor. Its normally dark blue cloth was black as well, with a gray swirl design. Wrapped around its hilt was a red scarf. To finish it off, the blue jewel at the center that served as an eye was yellow and orange, and the pupil red.

The honedge swung its blade towards the bayleef, using Fury Cutter as it slashed at one of the curled leaf-like growths sprouting from the Leaf pokemon’s neck. The bayleef screeched in pain, swinging its head to release a flurry of razor-sharp leaves towards the honedge. The Sword pokemon ducked easily, then retaliated with another Fury Cutter, this one stronger than the last. The bayleef gave one last cry of pain before fainting.

“What’s up with that honedge?!” the shorter policeman said, withdrawing the bayleef back to its pokeball. “Boss has a honedge and I’m pretty sure it looks nothing like that!”

“You’re right – hey, hold on.” The taller policeman looked around. “Where’d that girl go?”

The honedge was absorbed back to the pokeball and flew back to its owner, hidden behind a sack of (probably rotten) potatoes. Ryuko hissed as it clonked her forehead, but she stuffed it in her pocket anyway, making sure to keep absolutely still as the policemen clambered back up, saying she must have run away while they weren’t looking. She got a kick out of the shorter policeman as he almost fell down thanks to his weight, but once they were gone and shut the trapdoor, she took her chance.

The basement had a secret exit as well, which was underground and had been built by her father with a bit of Ryuko’s help. It ended just outside Route 1, which was where Mako was waiting for her. Still, though, as she crawled through the narrow tunnel, she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened with that sudden voice and the honedge.

Maybe she had accidentally caught the honedge with the pokeball she had randomly thrown? It was possible. But she hadn’t known about the honedge until just now, and her father had never told her anything of the sort. Maybe it had just hid in the basement for an ungodly amount of time, but Ryuko couldn’t be very sure.

And that voice was… Ryuko couldn’t put it in words, but if she had to choose, it sounded familiar. It was masculine, so maybe it had been one of those delinquents she had beaten up, or her deceased father’s voice, and she would have believed it was either of the two in different circumstances. But that was definitely not the case because neither of those two were likely to be the voice at all, but… there was no other male voice that sounded familiar in her ears.

Maybe it was the honedge.

She shook her head. Of course not, what was she thinking? Pokemon couldn’t talk unless through telepathy, and last time she checked, she was pretty sure honedge weren’t psychic-types. So… maybe it was just her imagination. Her going insane in the middle of a life-and-death situation… sounded more like Mako than her. Well, whatever. Ryuko didn’t really care right now; all she wanted to do was find out who killed her father and exact proper revenge on them.

When she reached the end of the tunnel, she clambered out of the trapdoor and poked her head out. Though it was nighttime, around nine pm, she could still see Mako leaning on a tree trunk, sound asleep with the occasional snore. Their bags were beside her, untouched, thankfully.

“Mako! Psst, Mako!”

The brunette mumbled something but eventually woke up once Ryuko shook her awake. “Ryuko-chan? What’s up?”

“I’m done. We need to get going,” she hissed. “Aquacorde is safer than here right now, since the policemen know what I sort-of look like. Get up!”

“Mm, okay.” Mako pulled herself to her feet unsteadily, slinging her bag over her shoulder and bringing out her only occupied pokeball. “Ryuko-chan, have you named your pokemon yet?"

“My pokemon…?” Ryuko shook her head. “Why would I?”

They started walking along on the path framed by trees and bushes. “Why shouldn’t you? People say naming your pokemon helps bring you closer to them!”

Ryuko frowned. “I haven’t even seen it yet.”

“Then start now!”

The teen sighed. There was no getting around Mako if she wanted to do something. “Fine.” She dug out her pokeball and aimed it at the ground, pressing the white button on the center. A cream-furred fennekin came out in a beam of red light, looking around curiously and a hint of confusion on its face.

Mako bent down to its eye level. “Aww, look at it! It’s adorable!”

Ryuko grinned. “Cute but strong, I bet. Hey, are you a girl or a guy?” The fennekin mewled in response. Ryuko sweatdropped. ‘ _Right, pokemon can’t talk… hm, what if–_ ’

**_She says she’s a female,_** came a voice. In her head. From out of nowhere.

Ryuko screamed, flinging herself back and looking around in a frenzy. Mako looked utterly confused while the fennekin looked fairly alarmed. In the spot beside where Ryuko had just been was the honedge from before, levitating a few inches above the ground and looking quite amused… if a honedge _could_ look amused.

“Did you just _talk_ to me?!” the teen cried out, eyes wide and fingers twitching to curl into a fist. Damn if it was a steel and ghost-type, she would willingly punch that pokemon if it went that far!

**_Yes, I did._** The honedge looked puzzled now. Ryuko vaguely wondered how it was doing that. **_Why so surprised? It’s just telepathy._**

“Yeah, but… you’re a ghost-type,” she pointed out weakly. “Last time I checked, ghost-types can’t use telepathy, can they?”

The honedge shrugged – how was it doing that?! It was a sword, for Arceus’ sake! **_I’m not sure about the specifics. But I’m no more different than the next honedge, really. Probably just a side-effect of… of the…_** Now it looked as if it was struggling to remember something. **_Of the… I can’t remember… but it’s not important. Probably._**

Just as Ryuko was about to make a remark about its physical appearance, Mako interjected. “Ryuko-chan, where’d you get that? I didn’t know you had a honedge with you! And it can use telepathy?! That’s so cool!”

By her feet, the fennekin made a sound of acknowledgement. It was somewhere between a bark and a growl. The honedge telepathically chuckled. **_She says she wants to know why she’s here. She’s entirely confused about her surroundings._**

“Oh, yeah, the fennekin,” Ryuko muttered. She turned to glare at the honedge. “I’ll deal with you later. Hm, now…” She bent down to peer at the irritated fennekin. “Hm, let’s put it this way. My dad’s been murdered and I wanna find out who killed him. So I’m off on a journey to look for whoever it is. I got you from the lab. That’s about it.”

The fennekin barked. The honedge translated, **_So you’re my – our – trainer?_**

Ryuko nodded. “Mm. Do you want a name?”

The Fox pokemon pondered about it for a moment, before shrugging (somehow pulling it off). Ryuko turned to look at Mako for help and the brunette returned the look.

“How ‘bout Fenna?”

“Generic.”

“Fika?”

“Er… exotic. And not in a good way.”

“Frodo?”

“Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Ooh, I know!” Mako smacked her fist on her palm. “Fenre! You should call her Fenre!”

Ryuko had burst into peals of laughter before she could talk to them. “H-Hold up. What was that? Did – Did you just say _Fahnrey?_ ”

“No no no! It’s ‘Fenre’! Say it with me, Ryuko-chan! ‘Fenre’!”

The black-haired teen had to choke out the name in between laughing and giggling. Once she had actually said it the ‘proper’ way, her laughing intensified and her stomach started hurting badly. The newly-named Fenre stood nearby, looking utterly clueless as to what was going on while the honedge hovered in place, just as confused.

Once Ryuko had gotten that out of the way (though the edge of her lips still quirked up every time she snuck a peek at ‘Fenre’), she moved on to her next pokemon; the honedge. “So… uh, what exactly happened with you back there?”

**_You threw a pokeball at me. So I got caught… and now I’m your pokemon. So I fought off that bayleef for you. That’s it,_** the honedge replied.

“I actually caught a pokemon with that?” Ryuko said, amused. “Okay then. But… why were you down there? I didn’t know pokemon stayed in our basement. Last time I checked I was the only other living being that went down in that musty old place.”

**_I don’t remember,_** the honedge said slowly. **_I just… woke up, one day. And… I couldn’t get out. I couldn’t get out unless I was caught by a human. It’s probably a special move or some sort. I’m… different from other honedges, though, that much I can say._**

“Yeah, I think everyone can see that, too,” Ryuko muttered, glancing at the honedge’s blood red blade before continuing. “Well. Do you know your name, at least? Well, er, if you have one?”

**_Yes, it’s… Senketsu, I believe._** The honedge – Senketsu – shifted its body in what may have been a nod. **_That’s right. My name is… Senketsu._**

“Well, okay.” Ryuko shrugged. “So, this is neat. A honedge when I’m just starting out? That’s cool, I guess. Welcome to my shitty life, both of you, F- _Fenre_ , Senketsu.” She snickered. “Seriously, Mako. ‘Fenre’.”

“Yeah! Just like my chespin!” The brunette held a chespin from its underarms proudly. It squeaked, clearly not amused at the way its new trainer was holding it. “She’s adorable! Ryuko-chan, I helped you with Fenre, help me name her!”

Ryuko grinned. “What, maybe… ‘Ches-see’?” She burst out laughing quickly enough, and laughed even harder when she saw the chespin’s horrified expression. Knowing Mako, she’d have accepted any name, so long as it came out of Ryuko’s mouth.

“That’s perfect!” Mako cheered. “Chesse the chespin! It sounds great on her!” She hugged the Spiny Nut pokemon tighter to her chest, causing the poor pokemon to squeak in protest. “Thanks, Ryuko-chan!”

“N-No problem,” Ryuko giggled. Chesse glared at the black-haired teen.

 

 

 

“Satsuki-chan! Over here!” Nonon hissed, pulling her best friend into the bushes. Satsuki ducked into them, settling beside Iori as the search party tromped on uninterrupted. The trio stayed hidden for a good two more minutes before Iori signaled it was clear. 

“How many of those guys did your mom send after us?” Nonon grumbled. “There’s, like, an unlimited supply of them or something.”

“They’re destructible enough,” Satsuki muttered. “But we need to find those three soon. Iori!”

It was a command in itself. “Of course.” The blond whipped out a phone from his coat pocket, dialing a number with his nimble fingers, and raised it to his ear. “… Inumuta? It’s time. Contact Sanageyama and Gamagoori and tell them to meet there. Yes, alright. Yes. Goodbye.”

Satsuki nodded approvingly. “Very well. Let us make haste to Camphrier. Shiro.”

There was barely a flash of red light before the froakie had appeared, obediently sitting on Satsuki’s shoulder. The teen patted its head before whispering a command to it and it nodded, bounding off into the darkness. Satsuki followed it, accompanied by her two best friends.

They were running away. Running away from an insane woman who wanted to destroy the world and make it a fitful habitat for pokemon – and pokemon only. Satsuki was quite sure she wanted nothing of that, so she made a plan. 

A very, very straightforward plan that involved so many different people that it looked much more complicated than it actually was.

 

 

 

It was nearly midnight when Ryuko and Mako decided it was about time to at least take a rest.

They found refuge in a large, hidden area completely overgrown with foliage. Chesse took a quick look around and determined it to be safe enough to rest in for the time being, so they settled down with their sleeping bags. Thankfully, they’d eaten a bit before they set off, so they weren’t all hungry.

The same could not be said for their pokemon.

Fenre whined by Ryuko’s side noisily, which Senketsu translated as a call for food. Ryuko grumbled something that sounded like ‘deal with it and go to sleep you little fox’ but Fenre refused to do so. Eventually, the fennekin joined Chesse in sniffing out edible plants and made do with that. Senketsu ate some, too, though _how_ he ate Ryuko didn’t know.

They slept for a good two hours before there was suddenly a shuffling of feet in the distance. Fenre alerted her trainer, who in turn kicked Mako awake, and they set off once more. When they ducked into a relatively hidden area behind a few trees, Mako sent Chesse to find out what was happening. When the chespin came back, Senketsu translated her chirps and squeaks that there was a small troop of guards, around eight or so, walking around and seemingly looking out for something. Three policemen accompanied the group.

Ryuko took that as a sign they needed to get out of here _fast_ , and so they made haste towards the end of the route. And then, of course, they were found.

Being found was inevitable, as well as the battle that would undoubtedly follow it. They weren’t expecting _three_ people to find them – two guards and one of the policemen, who Ryuko identified as the short one from before.

“It’s her! That girl in the basement!” the policeman exclaimed, pointing accusingly at Ryuko. The black-haired teen violently shook her head, her hands in front of her chest protectively, but the policeman sent out his healed bayleef anyway. “I’ll pay you back for that time!”

The guards had ridiculously strong pokemon, which were two rhyperiors, an aerodactyl, and three excadrills each. Yes, it was quite impossible to win against them with two baby pokemon and one mutated honedge. So they did the only logical thing, which was run. Quickly.

“Get back here!” the policeman shouted, to which Ryuko just ran faster. She soon overtook Mako, the brunette panting and lagging behind. Before one of the aerodactyls could snatch Mako out from the air, Ryuko scooped the brunette up in her arms and sprinted along the grass in a speed she didn’t know she could reach. Senketsu held off the aerodactyls but returned to his pokeball the second Ryuko found a suitable hiding place.

Where? Underwater.

Ryuko absorbed Fenre into her pokeball first and did the same for Chesse, before diving right in a large lake and swimming to the bottom. It was a very shallow lake, and Ryuko easily opened a small trapdoor on the lake floor and pushed herself in. As soon as she and Mako were inside, she shut the door close to prevent any more water flooding in.

Clothes drenched and hair dripping wet, Ryuko set Mako down on the ground where the brunette attempted to catch her breath. Ryuko sighed, slumping to the floor and leaning on the wall as she shrugged her jacket off, squeezing the water out as much as she could while observing the small chamber around her.

She’d visited Route 1 several times, actually, where she had established several hiding spots and secret areas that only she (and probably the wild pokemon) knew about. This underwater chamber was something she had enlisted the help of a wild pokemon from, actually; a sneasel, which she hadn’t known lived in Route 1. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t try to rob her and instead accepted the candy Ryuko had held out. And so that was how Ryuko had a pokemon friend for all of one glorious day before the sneasel eventually disappeared into the overgrowth. She hadn’t seen it since.

It was tiny, with little room to move around in, but it served its purpose well enough; a place to hide in when things were getting tough. Ryuko remembered how many times she visited the place when sad, frustrated, or just needed some time alone for herself (and possibly also to clean her wounds after getting beaten up, but that’s beside the point). The room was completely empty, submerged in a couple inches of water from a few seconds ago, and several piles of sand Ryuko didn’t know were there last time she had come in the place. Must have been a water-type pokemon or something.

“Where are we? What happened? Are we underwater?” Mako gasped, questions spilling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Ryuko shrugged. “Uh, yeah. Underwater. This place’s a little hiding spot I built with some help. And I would have gone underground, but they had a bunch of excadrills, so…”

“Oh.” Mako let out a sigh of relief. “So we’re all okay? Where’s Chesse?”

Ryuko tossed the chespin’s pokeball over to her trainer. Mako fumbled around with it a moment before catching it and releasing the Spiny Nut pokemon from its confines. Chesse, slightly wet, shook its fur free of the water and gazed around its surroundings in confusion. Senketsu allowed himself out of his pokeball as well, to Ryuko’s annoyance.

**_Where is this…? Oh, a hiding spot?_ **

“Yeah. I guess.” Ryuko stretched her arms, letting out a yawn. “Hmm, I’m tired… should we stay here for a bit before moving on?”

Mako was already asleep. The black-haired teen, along with Chesse, rolled her eyes. Taking that as a yes, Ryuko leaned against the wall once more, falling asleep before her eyes had even closed.


	2. attack!, a mook, a childhood friend, and a battle over a belt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuko and Mako are assaulted by wild bug-types. After that, Ryuko attempts to get a belt and fails miserably due to the appearance of a monkey.

“You know, when you said they were ‘destructible’, I was kind of expecting bidoofs and rattatas, Satsuki-chan…”

Satsuki shrugged. “They’re destructible for Shiro. Aren’t they?”

The froakie spewed a wave of foamy water at the advancing rhydons, causing them to collapse on the ground and cause a minor tremble on the earth. Shiro turned to look back at his trainer, smirking slightly with a nod.

Nonon sighed. “Karen’s not like him. She’s more of a commanding kinda pokemon, aren’t ya, Karen?” she lifted the piplup to her chest with a little grin, giggling when the penguin pokemon nodded confidently.

“Not good at fighting, so she makes others do it for her.” Iori rolled his eyes. “Sounds like her trainer.”

The pink-haired teen turned to look at the blond so fast it was a surprise her neck didn’t snap. “You’re like your pokemon, too, blondie – keeps getting called a girl!”

“Excuse me?” Iori raised an eyebrow, his chikorita fuming by his feet.

“It’s true, though, isn’t it?!”

“Nonon, Iori.” Satsuki stared at them, her mouth twitching upwards. The two kept quiet immediately. “Find us a place for the night. If we can’t reach Camphrier by tomorrow, we shall have to stay somewhere near it.”

Nonon saluted. “Gotcha.”

 

 

 

When Ryuko woke up, she had no idea what time it is, but it felt _fairly_ early. She looked over the small room again and easily spotted the exit that lead underground, then curved upwards to the land surface. 

After several wasted minutes on trying to wake Mako up, the brunette finally blinked her eyes open groggily, muttering something about tomato pies or whatever. Already used to her early-morning mumbles, Ryuko waved Mako over and the brunette tripped over air twice before she reached the end of the room, where her best friend was.

“Wha – where’re we going, Ryuko-chan?”

After digging out a sizeable amount of sand out from it, Ryuko turned around to show Mako the passageway. “Here.”

Mako blinked. “… There?”

“Here.”

“…” She shrugged. “Okay!”

It took a while for them to get through the tunnel, since it was a bit smaller than Ryuko remembered, but they eventually reached the curve where they started steadily climbing upwards. Finally, Ryuko’s head popped up from a small hole on the ground. She took a deep breath of fresh air, then scrabbled out to let Mako breathe as well.

A quick glance up at the sun let Ryuko know it was around eight or nine, which meant they got, what, six hours of sleep? Definitely not enough, but she had to get going or the police would find them, as they always did. And she needed to find out who killed her dad. Unconsciously clenching her hand into a fist, Ryuko stared at the path ahead of her, going over a hundred ways on how to exact revenge on her father’s murderer…

“Ryuko-chan, I’m hungry…” Mako whined.

Ryuko facepalmed. She really should have seen this coming.

 

 

 

The duo settled on the ground, somewhat hidden by a couple bushes and trees, and dug out a few snacks they had in Mako’s giant purple backpack. Most of it was still a bit damp, but Ryuko managed to salvage a pack of gummy ursarings and a container filled with croquettes that had somehow escaped from the water unscathed. They shared the croquettes and, with great reluctance, Ryuko let Fenre and Senketsu out for half a croquette each. Chesse got one whole for herself, much to the fennekin and honedge's annoyance.

Once ‘breakfast’ was over, Ryuko cleaned up the area while Mako absorbed Ryuko’s pokemon back in their balls. The brunette stubbornly latched onto Chesse, holding her to her chest and claiming that letting one’s pokemon stay with them more outside their pokeball helped with the bonding process. Ryuko sighed and let it be.

They were on the road again, and thankfully, it was mostly devoid of wild pokemon. After walking for five minutes in silence, Mako broke and started up a conversation.

“Ryuko-chan, aren’t you gonna catch more pokemon?”

The black-haired teen blinked in surprise at the sudden topic, but replied, “If I find anything good, yeah.”

“Aww! But even the mooks can be super strong, you know?”

“… Mooks?”

“Yeah! Pokemon like these!” Mako held up a random zigzagoon that had walked by. It barked lightly, then attempted to scamper off. It was held tight by the brunette’s iron grip, though. “And rattata and patrat and bunnelby and others!”

“Uh… okay.” Ryuko nodded. “Where’d you even get that?” She pointed at the brown Tiny Raccoon pokemon.

Mako paused. “… I don’t know actually.” She peered down at the zigzagoon in her arms. “Aww, she’s so cute, though! Can I catch her?”

“Why are you asking me?”

The zigzagoon blinked at the pokeball that had somehow materialized in Mako’s palm. Once it had understood what was about to happen, it let out a cry and jumped straight out of the brunette’s arms and ducked into a bush. Mako drooped, the hand holding the pokeball dropping back to her side.

“But – I wanted her!”

Ryuko chuckled. “You’re gonna have to look for another one, then.”

“But I wanted _her!_ ”

Nevertheless, the duo kept walking, soon leaving the zigzagoon behind. It peeked up from the bush, then jumped back to the road and rushed after them.

 

 

 

“Hey, you!” the young boy, who looked no older than eleven or twelve, pointed dramatically at Satsuki. “I bet you think you’re some hotshot, huh? Let’s see once you battle me!” 

Satsuki raised a thick eyebrow. “This isn’t even worth my time. Nonon, if you please.”

“Ahh, gladly.” The pink-haired teen grinned sadistically, cracking her knuckles. “Alright, come at me, kid. Let’s see how you fare against _me_.”

“… He meant a _pokemon_ battle, Jakuzure,” Iori deadpanned.

Nonon blinked. “… Oh.” Nonetheless, the boy had a rather frightened look on his face, but attempted to keep up his brave act and threw a pokeball to the ground.

“Mono, let’s do this!” he declared, the pancham in front of him grinning confidently and tensing into a battle stance. Nonon rolled her eyes and simply pointed a gloved hand in front of her. In a flash, Karen the piplup had dashed forward, opening her beak and letting a gush of water crash against the pancham and send it flying. The boy let out a horrified cry and reached down to cradle his fainted pokemon against his chest, but was assaulted by a wave of bubbles on his face.

Nonon tossed her head, giggling like an evil schoolgirl, if that was possible. “No match for _me_ , as usual.” At a look from Karen, she hurriedly added, “And Karen, of course.”

“No way!” the boy crowed. “Your piplup knows Hydro Pump?! That’s impossible!”

“It’s _Karen_. Nothing’s impossible for her.”

“Does that mean she’s bred specially? Can you get me one too?” The boy jumped to his feet, recalling his pancham and staring up at Nonon with hopeful eyes.

The pink-haired teen inched away from the boy with visible disgust. “What, another piplup? Fuck no, now get away from me.”

“Aww! But why not?”

“Maybe ‘cause my mom gave her to me and I never bothered to ask her where she got Karen!” Nonon shouted, exasperatedly throwing her hands up in the air. She sighed heavily, then turned to look at Satsuki. “Satsuki-chan, are we done here?”

“We were always done here.” Satsuki blinked. “Could you please let us go on our way, now?”

The boy’s face broke out in realization upon taking a closer look at Satsuki’s face. “… Wait, you’re the missing girl! The one on TV!”

“… Shit,” Nonon said.

Without giving the boy anymore leads, Satsuki grabbed both Nonon’s and Iori’s wrists and went on a mad dash to Camphrier City. It was just around the corner, if they turned around they would already be there, just a bit more –

“There! Satsuki-sama!”

Fucking hell.

 

 

 

The sun was high up in the sky by the time Ryuko and Mako came stumbling into Aquacorde Town.

With an incredible burst of speed, the duo rushed towards the pokemon center and almost slammed into the counter, surprising the poor nurse behind it. Both of them were covered head to toe in dirt, grass, mud, and leaves, and they were tired beyond belief.

After pooling their funds to just barely get a room for one (they decided to share the bed), they both crawled up the stairs to get to their room, which was mercifully located on the second floor. Ryuko slumped on the bed while Mako crashed to the floor the moment the door to their room opened. It was quite the sight, with Mako’s upper body in the room and her lower body outside, but the brunette didn’t really care at the moment.

 

 

 

_A few hours ago…_  

After their earlier conversation about catching more pokemon, Mako somehow convinced Ryuko to try catching at least one, even to just try it out. The black-haired teen spotted a small caterpie dozing off by a tree, and she sent out Fenre to weaken the bug-type enough for her to catch it. The fennekin let out a halfhearted Ember attack, successfully burning the caterpie and awakening it. With several high-pitched cries and squeaks, an entire flock of butterfrees suddenly emerged from out of nowhere, and not looking very pleased, either.

The butterfrees fired several sorts of attacks at the hurriedly fleeing duo; Stun Spore, which hit Fenre and made Ryuko have to absorb it back to its ball, Sleep Powder, which just narrowly missed Mako, and even an Air Slash that cut through the air just above them. Ryuko tripped over a tree root and was sent sprawling on the grass and soil, Mako falling on top of her with Chesse still stubbornly clutched in her arms. They scrambled to get up and dived into a clump of bushes, holding their breaths and praying to Arceus the butterfrees wouldn’t find them.

Once five solid minutes had passed and there was neither sight nor sound of the Butterfly pokemon, they both let out sighs of relief. Ryuko stood up, stretching slightly, then turned to stare straight into giant red eyes.

She let out a shriek and fell backwards, backing away rapidly as the butterfrees dove at her. Mako pointed at the butterfrees blindly and yelled for Chesse to attack, which the chespin gladly did. It jumped out of Mako’s arms and summoned two long vines, smacking them against the butterfrees’ wings and sending a couple out of the air. Their attention was instantly directed to the brunette and her chespin.

Seeing the immediate predicament Mako had gotten herself into, Ryuko flung a random pokeball forward, crossing her fingers and hoping it was empty so she could possibly catch one of the Butterfly pokemon for herself. Both fortunately and unfortunately, Senketsu materialized in a flash of red light, alerting a few of the butterfrees to a new enemy. The honedge was a bit disoriented at first, but once he caught sight of the rather large number of very angry butterfrees rushing towards him, he jumped to action.

Readying a Fury Cutter, he slashed at the first butterfree that jumped him, then the second, and the third, and the fourth, until several unconscious Butterfly pokemon surrounded him. Senketsu panted tiredly, looking around for any other possible threats. Seeing none, he collapsed on the ground, sheathing himself and on the brink of fainting. After a second of being frozen, Ryuko quickly absorbed the honedge back to his pokeball.

Both Ryuko and Mako lay there for a while, trying to catch their breath and being in speechless shock after that fiasco. Chesse retracted her vines and sat on a nearby rock, blinking at the show of power she had just made.

Then there was a faint, but unmistakable, buzzing sound.

The duo shot up, Mako scooping Chesse in her arms and ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the supposed path that would take them to Aquacorde Town. However, human legs were no match against the speed of beedrill wings, and they found themselves being chased by angrily buzzing bug and poison-type pokemon.

Of course, the path had actually just taken them to a dead end surrounded by trees on all sides and beedrills on the way back. They were, quite frankly, screwed. The only pokemon that was still in fighting condition was Chesse, but she had a major type disadvantage to both bug and poison types. Mako recalled the chespin back to her pokeball to prevent injuries, even though it looked like it physically pained her to do so. Just as the beedrills rushed towards the duo, a flash of brown and black burst out of the nearby tree and attacked the beedrills in a flurry of rapid strikes and slashes. In minutes, several of them were lying on the ground, knocked out or barely conscious.

Among the bodies strewn around stood the zigzagoon from earlier (Mako let out a squeal) and a rather familiar pokemon. Ryuko stared at it for a good long while before it flashed a smirk at her, and she immediately knew that this was the pokemon that had been her friend so long ago.

“Sneasel!” Ryuko cried, at the same time that the brunette beside her ran and picked the Tiny Raccoon pokemon up into her arms. The sneasel grinned, trotting over to Ryuko in obvious delight. Ryuko bent down, patting the sneasel on its head. “Where’ve you been? Man, I haven’t seen you since the underwater secret base!”

“Snea, sneasel!” It was then that the Sharp Claw pokemon noticed the two pokeballs peeking out of Ryuko’s jacket. “Sneasel?”

Noticing the sneasel’s gaze, Ryuko grinned a bit sheepishly and nodded. “Yeah, I’m a trainer now. My dad got murdered and stuff, so I’m off to find out who killed him.”

“Snea!” The sneasel’s eyes widened; it knew all too well about Ryuko’s delinquency and the fact that her father wasn’t exactly the best father figure to have around. The teen had told it that way back when it was her only companion for the day.

Ryuko shrugged. “No way ‘round it, I guess… hey!” Remembering Mako’s insistence on catching a new pokemon before, she faced the sneasel excitedly. “Sneasel, wanna come with me? Join my team and stuff?”

“Snea?”

“I need a new pokemon, mainly so Mako’ll stop being on my case about it all the time. What say you?”

The sneasel stared blankly at Ryuko for a moment, before a large grin broke onto its face. “Sneasel! Snea!”

“That’s a yes, isn’t it?” Ryuko couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face as the sneasel nodded. “ _Awesome_. Finally, after all these years, I can finally have you as my little friend again!” She lifted the Sharp Claw pokemon into the air, barely resisting the urge to giggle girlishly. “Let’s get along, Sneasel! Or, I should name you. Hold on.” Putting the sneasel back down, she turned to face Mako and opened her mouth to speak, only to close it a moment later.

The brunette was holding the zigzagoon to her chest, petting it and stroking its fur repeatedly. Unknown to her, its snout was buried in her chest, right between her rather sizeable breasts, and a large blush had overtaken most of its features. Ryuko remained silent as she watched Mako sneakily pull out a pokeball from her backpack and tap it to the zigzagoon’s back. It disappeared in a flash of red light and barely even twitched as the _ding_ of a newly-caught pokemon sounded.

“Hehe, gotcha!” Mako giggled, holding the pokeball up to the light and prancing around happily. The sneasel by Ryuko’s feet glanced upwards at its new trainer before making a slightly disgusted expression towards Mako’s general direction.

“Uh. Mako?”

The brunette paused momentarily in her celebration to look at her best friend. “Yeah? Oh, Ryuko-chan, it’s a sneasel! Look, she’s so cute!” Immediately, she bent down and petted the sneasel in between the ears. Despite itself, the Sharp Claw pokemon purred, then swiped Mako’s hand away with a quick hiss.

“Yeah, she’s my pokemon now. I think.” Ryuko shrugged, but there was a noticeable smile on her face. “I need a name for her… uh, can you–”

“A’course!” Mako nodded. Staring at the sneasel, she suggested, “Nyah?”

“Sneasels aren’t cats.”

“Lala?”

“She’s not a whimsicott either. Stop reading weird books, Mako.”

“Umm… Sasa!”

“Snea.”

“See, even _she_ doesn’t like it.”

Mako pouted. “Meanie! Hmm… Saya! I got it!”

Ryuko blinked in slight surprise. “Saya.” She glanced down at the sneasel by her feet. “That’s actually pretty good. Is Saya alright with’cha?”

The sneasel shrugged.

“Saya it is. Welcome to the team, I guess.” Ryuko dug out a spare pokeball from Mako’s backpack and tapped it on the yellow jewel on the newly-named Saya’s forehead. The sneasel was absorbed into a pokeball, grin ever present as the pokeball dinged cheerily.

 

 

 

It was around three or so when Ryuko woke up. The first thing she noticed was that she was tucked into the bed, along with Mako snoring loudly beside her, which was not what she remembered. What she _did_ remember before conking out was that she was slumped halfway across the bed and Mako was being a roadblock on the floor. A quick check on the bedside deskdrawer beside her revealed a tray of food and a note by one of the nurses. Oh. 

After a couple minutes of trying to pry Mako’s arms off of her, Ryuko gave up and simply ate the curry rice and the bowl of soup given to them. With great difficulty, she crawled out of bed and snatched up both her and Mako’s pokeballs from her backpack. Almost all of their pokemon were injured and tired, and while she had just started out as a trainer, she was smart enough to know that pokemon centers healed your pokemon completely for free. So, healing their pokemon was obviously the next best choice of action.

She gathered the pokeballs in her arms, mentally noting to herself to buy some sort of bag, and tottered downstairs unsteadily. Once she reached the ground floor, she internally winced at the long line of people queuing in front of the counter and reluctantly sidled up behind the last person.

It took almost half an hour to go through all those people, but once she got to the counter, she practically dumped the five pokeballs on the counter, shaking her arms slightly to get the feeling back into them. The pokeballs were annoyingly heavy when there was a lot of them.

The pink-haired nurse blinked down at the red-and-white orbs, before placing them in a tray with six circular depressions and passing them to the chansey beside her. She then looked back up at Ryuko, smiling slightly. “Miss, don’t you have a pokeball belt?”

“A – what?” She had obviously come unprepared.

“A pokeball belt. It’s a special kind of belt that helps carry multiple pokeballs around. Certainly more practical than your pockets,” the nurse added jokingly, chuckling a little before quickly quieting when she caught sight of Ryuko’s twitching eyebrow. Clearing her throat, she said, “They’re around a hundred or so poke in the pokemart, so you might want to chance a visit there later.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever. Thanks.” Ryuko nodded, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets. She hadn’t been able to do that for a while, seeing as they had recently been filled with pokeballs.

The nurse handed Ryuko a number card and told her to come back when her number was called through the intercom. With nothing else to do, Ryuko slipped the card in her jeans pocket this time and headed for the pokemart near the east side of the pokemon center.

It was rather small, but it was probably only because there were shelves jam-packed with traveling necessities. Ryuko scoured the shelves for a while until she finally found the pokeball belts and picked one out, a cheap black leather one that cost a hundred and ten poke. While Ryuko had certainly wanted the stylish red-and-black one, the price tag on it read two hundred and seventy five and the black-haired teen only had a hundred and fifty on her right now. Sighing a bit wistfully, she snatched the belt off its place and presented it to the counter nearby. Just as she was about to dig out her pitifully thin wallet, a tall teen with unkempt green hair snatched the belt up, looking at it incredulously.

“Oi, what do you think you’re doing?” Ryuko growled, readying her palm into a fist. She was a previous delinquent; she had no qualms about starting a fight in a tiny store. She had done worse, anyway.

The green-haired teen frowned. “You’re really gonna buy something as cheap as this? How ‘bout that black and red one? It’ll complement your hair.”

Ryuko bared her teeth in a scowl. “I would if I could, but _alas_ , I can’t. Now give that back or I swear to Arceus–”

“What? You’ll fight me?” The corner of his lips twitched upwards into an infuriating sneer.

“I am _very capable_ of breaking that skull in yours into pieces, and breaking the pieces into more pieces.” Both fists were clenched so hard now her knuckles were turning white. “Don’t try me, pretty boy.”

“‘Pretty boy’? Really, that’s the best you can do?” He scoffed, tossing the belt up. Ryuko immediately tried to catch it, but the teen grabbed it from the air before she could, taking great advantage of his height. “What? Can’t get it, can you?”

“Now you’re just _asking_ for your ass to be beaten up and down and fuckin’ _sideways!_ ” Ryuko snarled. She had been assaulted by butterfrees and beedrills today; her temper was not built to last this long. “If you’re gonna fight me, then hurry up and do it!”

“I can tell you’re a delinquent,” he muttered. “I’d beat you still, but it’d be way easier in a pokemon battle so I can rub it in your face even more.” His sneer widened. “You were so confident, too, and then you got defeated in seconds. How ‘bout that?”

“Fine by _me_ ,” Ryuko huffed. Then, she faltered. “… My pokemon are being healed, though.”

The teen facepalmed.

 

 

 

Ryuko’s number was 41, and the intercom had just announced 30, so the two decided to sit together at one of the tables situated in the center. Obviously, the quick lunch Ryuko had had wasn’t enough, so the black-haired teen ordered more with what she could afford with forty poke, as she was saving her hundred and ten for the belt. Needless to say, it wasn’t a lot, and she halfheartedly chewed on a stale piece of bread. The green-haired teen, who had introduced himself as Sanageyama Uzu, had told the staff manning the counter to reserve the belt for whichever one of the two of them would come for it.

Uzu watched Ryuko eat with barely concealed disinterest, before finally asking, “How many pokemon do you have, anyway?”

“Three,” Ryuko mumbled in between bites. “You?”

“Two.” Uzu whistled. “Starter?”

“…” Ryuko stared at him with distrust. “Type, or…?”

“Eh, type.”

“Fire.” She took another bite of the bread. “You?”

“Grass.” Uzu frowned. “I get the feeling I’m pretty screwed. How long you been a trainer?”

“… One and a half days?”

Uzu let out a bark of laughter. “Considering you don’t even have a pokeball belt, I should have known that.”

Ryuko bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from spouting a very creative insult she had recently learned from the internet. “Yeah, and _you’re_ so seasoned. You only have two pokemon!”

“Quality over quantity, Matoi.” His sneer ever widened. “Have you even had a trainer battle yet?”

“… No,” Ryuko admitted. The sneer on Uzu’s face had gotten so wide she had a very strong urge to slap it off. “Who cares, I can still beat you up, no problem!”

“Let’s see if you have the bite to back up your bark, then, Matoi.”

Almost as if on cue, the intercom announced, voice laden with static the number 41, alerting Ryuko to shoot to her feet. The black-haired teen hurried to stuff the remainder of her bread and throw the plastic wrapper that had come with it to a conveniently placed trash bin, then almost flew to the counter. The nurse handed her back the tray of pokeballs with a smile, then thanked her for her service and rushed off somewhere else.

Uzu peered down at the five spherical objects as Ryuko pocketed them carefully. “Thought you said you had three?”

“My friend’s,” she answered simply. With that said, she looked back up at the green-haired male, smirk on her face. “So, about that battle…”

 

 

 

After checking to make sure Mako was still in the room and hadn’t gone off somewhere, Ryuko and Uzu made their way outside the pokemon center, just in the outskirts of Aquacorde Town. Despite the area being relatively far from the local townspeople, a small crowd had already gathered around them, dividing themselves into sides. Ryuko’s eye twitched when she saw the sizeable amount of people huddling behind Uzu 

“Ready, monkey?” she taunted.

“Monkey? Are you serious?”

“Would you prefer I call you pretty boy?”

Uzu sighed theatrically. “Annoying… fine, you know the rules. Two pokemon each–”

“ _Obviously_ ,” Ryuko cut in with a noticeable sneer in her voice.

“–winner gets to buy a belt.” Uzu pointedly ignored his opponent’s interruption, though the grip on his pokeball tightened considerably. After his statement, they both turned to look at the trainer who had volunteered to referee the match.

“Alright. Ready – go!”

“Saya, come on!”

“Kon, if you win this, it’s a Poffin.”

Both respective pokemon burst out of their pokeballs in a flash of red light. On Ryuko’s side, the new addition to her team – Saya – had already tensed into a battle stance with her sharp claws glinting in the sunlight. On Uzu’s side, a green, bipedal lizard-like pokemon had appeared, large yellow eyes narrowing at its opponent.

“That’s a…” Ryuko stared long and hard at the pokemon Uzu had sent out before it finally clicked. “Treecko! Right?”

“Yup,” Uzu said, bending down slightly to pat his treecko’s head. “Name’s Konyaku, Kon for short. How ‘bout you? Where’d you get that sneasel of yours?”

Ryuko shrugged. “I didn’t even know sneasels were native here until Saya came along.” Her casual demeanor fell apart quickly, replaced by her usual arrogant air. “Enough talk. Saya, use…” She wracked her brain to try and remember a move the sneasel had used so long ago. “Icy Wind!”

“Kon, Quick Attack or you’re dead meat!”

While both pokemon had fast reflexes, Kon rushed forward in a burst of speed, slamming his entire body against Saya’s midsection. The sneasel was forced back, skidding across the ground roughly and coming to a stop just in front of a tree. Gritting her teeth, Saya readied an Icy Wind in her mouth and shot it forward right at the treecko on top of her, but Kon sprang away before it had a chance to even graze him.

“Ah, shit. Saya–” Great, that was the only move she remembered. Ryuko decided to take a gamble and take a leaf from Uzu’s book. “Quick Attack!”

“Leer, then Absorb!”

Grinning, the sneasel shot forward at the speed of a bullet, but Kon stopped her with little effort. The treecko stood his ground and glared at Saya, narrowing his eyes even further until they were almost slits. Despite herself, Saya faltered in her steps, a glint of nervousness flashing in her eyes. That second was all Kon needed; crouching slightly, he held out his arms and immediately, Saya felt the life being sucked away from her – literally. The sneasel bounced out of the way, but the damage had been done.

Uzu smirked. “I’m trouncing you.”

“Shut it, Saya’s not done yet!” Ryuko spat. “Icy Wind, and make it hit!”

Obediently, the sneasel pounced upon the unsuspecting treecko, pinning him down and holding him firmly in place. Kon let out a sharp, shrill cry, trying to push Saya off of him, but the sneasel held him down with an iron grip. Before Kon could do anything else, Saya opened her mouth and let loose a blast of freezing cold air. It crashed against the treecko below her, encasing various parts of his body in blocks of ice. Eventually, Saya cut off the Icy Wind attack, panting heavily, but the battle was over.

“Treecko is unable to attack! Round one goes to Matoi Ryuko!” the referee declared. Several of the trainers on Ryuko’s side cheered while the ones on Uzu’s side clapped half-heartedly.

Ryuko’s chest swelled with pride as Saya came bounding back to her, offering a tired grin. Bending down, the black-haired teen petted her between the ears and promised a treat later, before straightening and looking over at Uzu, who recalled Kon nonchalantly. Feeling particularly brave, she called, “Where’s your bravado now, monkey?”

He looked back up at her with a smirk that made Ryuko falter slightly; that definitely didn’t mean anything good. “Don’t write me off just yet, rookie.” Snatching a pokeball from the belt around his waist, he threw it to the ground, yelling, “Sichlor, you got this!”

Once the red light faded, a green, bipedal, insectoid creature appeared, brandishing its large arms around as its wings buzzed, aiding it as it hovered into the air. Saya tensed, the corner of her lip curling downwards as the Mantis pokemon sneered at her, a dangerous glint in its eye.

“A scyther!” Ryuko gasped. “I’ve always wanted one of those, _damn!_ Where the shit’d you get one?”

Uzu smirked. “Now’s not the time to get distracted, don’t you think?”

"Ready - go!"

The black-haired teen paused for a split second, confused, before her attention snapped back to the two opposing pokemon. Sichlor, Uzu’s scyther, had rushed forward and slashed at Saya with one of its large scythes for arms. Saya parried with her own sharp claws, creating a screeching sound, and although the sneasel looked like she could hold her own, she had been tired out from the previous battle and was clearly not ready for a stronger pokemon like a scyther.

“Saya, get behind it and use Icy Wind!” Ryuko yelled. The sneasel complied, leaping to the side and tensing into a jumping stance to get behind the scyther, but her movements were sluggish and Uzu took complete advantage of that.

“Sichlor, Brick Break it now!” he shouted. Ryuko almost screamed in frustration as the scyther bounded towards Saya and slammed both of its scythes down on her, knocking the sneasel into unconsciousness almost instantaneously. With a heavy sigh, Ryuko recalled Saya back into her pokeball, whispering a ‘you did well’ under her breath.

"Sneasel is unable to battle! Round two goes to Sanageyama Uzu!" There was a round of cheers from Uzu's side, and while Ryuko's side remained somewhat silent, there was the unmistakable tension in the air.

Retrieving her next and last pokemon, she gripped it tightly, almost _too_ tightly that she almost heard the pokemon’s familiar voice grunt in pain. With another sigh and a vicious glare sent Uzu’s way, Ryuko flung the pokeball out into the field, hoping against all hope it would win.

“Senketsu, let's go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now despair wonderfully as i never update again until ten years later


	3. a hacker, a dog, and a lot of bright light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuko and Uzu's battle is concluded, and some dude with blue hair shows up. Mako somehow gets another pokemon, but their stay in Aquacorde unfortunately doesn't last long.

“What the _hell_ is that?” Uzu shouted.

“Ready, go – wait, what’s that?” the referee trainer shouted.

“It’s freaky!” Someone on Uzu’s side shouted.

Senketsu looked around, eye narrowed at the unfamiliar surroundings. **_Ryuko. Is this a battle?_**

“Yeah,” Ryuko replied, looking around nervously at the rapidly growing crowd. “Uh… you’re against that thing.” She pointed at the scyther, who was eyeing Senketsu with a cautious air. “It’s a bug and flying-type. Uhh, pretty tough.”

“Hey, rookie!” Uzu called from the other side of the field. “What the hell’s with your honedge? Is it some sort of mutation or something?”

Trying to stabilize her voice, Ryuko nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah, what’s it to you? He’s stronger than _your_ scyther, mutation or not!”

Uzu crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow incredulously. “What’d you call it? Senketsu? Doesn’t that mean ‘fresh blood’?”

“T-That’s his name!” Ryuko protested.

The teen rolled his eyes. “Ah, whatever. Mutation, muhtation. Let’s fight already! Sichlor, get ready!”

“Ah, yeah! Senketsu, let’s do this!” Ryuko hoped she still remembered some of the moves the honedge had. Fury Cutter was the only one she was sure Senketsu had in his arsenal… what else, what _else_ …

“Sichlor, Pursuit!” Uzu commanded.

“Ahh, shit, Fury Cutter!” Ryuko shouted, giving up completely on trying to remember anything else. ‘ _Hopefully I’ll just shout random commands and Senketsu’ll get them!_ ’

Nodding at his trainer, Sichlor leapt forward, brandishing his scythes and lashing out at the honedge. Senketsu unsheathed himself and slashed at the scyther once he got close enough, leaving a bright red gash on the Mantis pokemon’s forehead. Howling in pain, Sichlor attempted another Pursuit, this time hitting the honedge on his blade. Senketsu winced, but sped up his Fury Cutter, slashing relentlessly at the scyther.

Sichlor dropped to the ground on one knee, several cuts on his carapace, and Senketsu hovering just in front of Ryuko. Uzu gritted his teeth, and Ryuko bit her lip even harder – then,

“Pursuit again, repeat!”

“Tackle!” ‘ _That’s gotta be something honedges learn! Right?_ ’

Fortunately, Senketsu did know the move and charged straight forward to Sichlor, intent on slamming his full body weight against the scyther. While Senketsu’s Tackle did hit, it simply grazed the scyther and Sichlor was barely even fazed. Pouncing on the stunned honedge, Sichlor started slashing at his blade. To both Ryuko’s and Senketsu’s shock, Sichlor didn’t stop after one Pursuit; instead, strengthening his attacks until finally, a piece of metal from Senketsu’s blood red blade was chipped off.

“Stop!” Ryuko shouted. To her surprise, the scyther acknowledged her and flitted back to Uzu’s side, eyeing the heavily panting honedge on the field. The black-haired teen rushed to Senketsu’s side, her eyes widening at the chipped metal. “What the fuck did you do?! Jesus _Christ!_ ”

Uzu watched Ryuko with a tired look on his face. “See, this is a pokemon battle. Way back, it was all fun and games, and no one ever gets hurt. Now, though? These pokemon are _built_ for battle. You can’t expect a trainer battle to be completely harmless, Matoi. Now stand up, this battle isn’t over yet.”

“Yes it is!” Ryuko blurted out before she could retract her words. Though she had next to no idea what she was saying, she continued talking anyway. Turning towards the referee trainer, she said, “I forfeit the match!”

Uzu blinked in surprise. Sichlor lowered his scythes. The trainers on both sides started whispering and muttering amongst each other.

The referee trainer looked a bit stunned at the declaration, before shrugging and announcing, “Matoi Ryuko has forfeited the match! Sanageyama Uzu wins by default!”

 

 

 

After recalling Senketsu back to his pokeball and depositing her pokemon in the center _again_ (the nurse gave her a strange look before placing the two pokeballs in the tray), Ryuko slumped on a nearby couch, staring forlornly at her beltless waist. The next time I meet that guy, Ryuko thought to herself, I’m going to beat the stuffing out of him. 

“Hey,” a voice called from above. Ryuko reluctantly looked up, already recognizing the voice as…

“Don’t look so emo, rookie,” Uzu said, rolling his eyes. He held out a rather familiar belt in his right hand, with red and black flame-like designs. Ryuko’s eyes widened at the pokeball belt he held, and instinctively reached out for it, before stopping and glowering at Uzu with distrust. He furrowed his brows. “What, don’t trust me?”

“No,” Ryuko replied rather bluntly. She crossed her arms, turning away from him haughtily.

Uzu sighed theatrically, before shoving the belt right in front of her face. Ryuko jerked away from the close proximity, then cautiously reached out for the belt. As soon as her fingers curled around it, she snatched it right out of Uzu’s grip, holding it away from him like it was her child.

“Why?” Ryuko snapped.

“You know what else you need?” Uzu asked, avoiding the previous question entirely. “A pokedex.”

“…” Ryuko blinked. “A what?”

Uzu facepalmed. “Are you serious?! You’re a pokemon trainer but you don’t even know what a pokedex is?!”

“Uh, no.”

“It’s an electrical encyclopedia about pokemon. You can check out your pokemon’s moves there, too, and level and other things.” Uzu narrowed his eyes. “You know why you lost? Because you didn’t know shit about your pokemon. You’re gonna need one of those soon if you’re planning on taking on the gym leaders.”

Another blink. “Gym leaders…?”

“Oh my God, how stupid can you get?”

“I just started yesterday, okay?!”

Uzu groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That doesn’t excuse you from not even knowing what the gyms and gym leaders are! God, whatever. They’re like these amazingly strong trainers who manage gyms and if you defeat them in a pokemon battle, you get a gym badge.”

“Gym badge.” Ryuko wrinkled her nose. “What do those do? Sit in a corner of your bag and collect dust?”

“They actually help with strengthening certain stats of your pokemon and help you making your pokemon listen to you,” a monotonous voice suddenly called. Ryuko looked around, confused, before following Uzu’s vision towards the flight of stairs leading upwards.

Down came a blue-haired teen with a lanky form and blue-tinted glasses, dressed in a simple black turtleneck and jeans. He held a small purse in his left hand, and used his right hand to adjust his glasses upwards. The teen raised an eyebrow at Ryuko, who in turn glared at him. “Sanageyama. Are you wasting time again?”

“… No.” Uzu coughed.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Iori’s called for us to meet with Satsuki-sama after, what, three years? Four?” He sighed. “And you’re just going to sit here, playing around with newbie trainers again and goof off? Gamagoori would disapprove.”

“He never approves of anything, anyway,” Uzu grumbled, but retreated to the teen’s side nonetheless. “How’s it going on your end?”

“Analog is doing quite fine. I think he’s just about ready to evolve.” He looked almost surprised. “Why the sudden interest?”

“I knew you hadn’t evolved him yet.”

“I would if I could, but in the end, it’s his choice.”

“…” Uzu sighed dramatically, then turned to look at Ryuko, who was still sitting there with a bemused expression. “Matoi, this is Inumuta Houka. He’s my, uh, how should I say this…”

“Cohort,” Houka continued. “That will do.”

“Whatever.” The green-haired teen shrugged.

Ryuko frowned, biting the inside of her cheek. Inumuta Houka… he looked decent, at least, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious around him – scratch that, both of them. “Are you supposed to be doing something?”

Uzu blinked. “Pretty sharp, aren’t you?” He glanced at the stoic-faced Houka before returning his gaze to Ryuko. “You watched the news lately?”

“You think I have the time?”

Houka whistled.

“Still can’t tell you. Anyway, it’s none of your business.” Uzu turned to look over at Houka. “Yo, I’m about done here. We’re heading to Camphrier, aren’t we?”

Houka nodded. “I’m going to assume you don’t know the way.”

“Uh, I know until Lumiose, sure.”

He sighed. “Piconet should be able to take us there. We’ll set out on eight, bring your flashlight with you this time.”

“Hey, I forgot it _one_ time, okay!” Uzu shouted, but the blue-haired teen was already heading back up the stairs. Uzu sighed, turning away and looking back at Ryuko, who seemed completely confused. “Uh, yeah. It’s just… stuff.”

“Something about a Satsuki?” The black-haired teen raised an eyebrow.

Uzu shrugged. “Not telling.”

She huffed, but said nothing in response. Just as she had somehow managed to formulate a proper reply, someone screamed and there was a _thump-thump-thump_ sound.

Both trainers turned around to the source of the noise, Uzu’s hand resting on Sichlor’s pokeball. Their suspicion was for nothing, however, as it turned out that a familiar brunette had tumbled down the stairs, crashing into Houka on the way down, which sent them _both_ down the steps. Ryuko sighed, striding over and pulling Mako up to her feet, the brunette standing up unsteadily.

“Oh, Ryuko-chan! G’morning!”

“It’s five, Mako.”

“Good… afternoon?”

Ryuko sighed, shaking her head, but had a small smile on her face. She’d been lonely without Mako by her side. “Whatever. You bumped into this guy here, didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t just a ‘bump’!” Houka shouted, jumping to his feet and pointing accusingly at Mako while he used his free hand to fix his glasses. A small crack ran on one of the lens. “She was running along on the speed of an express train! I don’t think anyone can even possibly do that!”

“The dog is wrong for once,” Uzu mused.

“Who are you?” Mako cocked her head, staring at Houka curiously.

“You don’t ask that to a person you just knocked over!” Houka protested, looking like he was close to jumping up and down and flailing his arms about.

“He’s Inumuta Houka or something,” Ryuko said nonchalantly, as if Houka’s protests didn’t exist. She pointed towards Uzu. “And that’s Sanageyama I-forgot-his-first-name. He’s annoying.”

Mako waved hi to both of them. “Hello, Inumuta-sempai, Sanageyama-sempai!”

Uzu raised a hand lazily. Houka opened his mouth to shout something profound again, but seemed to think better of it once he caught Ryuko’s eye and changed directions. “I never got your names.”

“Oh, oh, she’s Ryuko-chan!” Mako pointed at the black-haired teen excitedly. “And I’m Mako! Mankanshoku Mako!”

Houka nodded with forced calm. “I see. It’s… nice to meet you.” The words felt like poison in his mouth.

“Oh, yeah, almost forgot.” Ryuko dug out the two pokeballs from her jacket pocket. “Here’s your pokemon, Mako, healed and all. Are you gonna name the zigzagoon?”

“Hmm… Ryuko-chan, help me think!” Mako said.

“…” Ryuko tilted her head. “Uhh… give me a letter.”

“M! So we can have alliterative names!”

Figures. “What about ‘Moriko’? It’ll do, won’t it?”

Mako brightened instantly. “Moriko… I like it! Oh-kay, thanks Ryuko-chan!” She released the zigzagoon, peering at it curiously for a moment, before petting its head and saying, “Hiya, Moriko! That’s your name now, alright?”

The zigzagoon tilted its head at her, before nodding slightly. Mako squealed and cuddled it against her chest once more.

Houka stared at her with badly disguised confusion. “Weird,” he deadpanned.

“You get used to her,” Ryuko said, redirecting her gaze to the blue-haired teen. She glowered lightly at him – he honestly just looked a bit strange. “Has anyone ever told you you look like a criminal?”

Houka shrugged and didn’t reply. Ryuko scowled at him and looked over at Uzu. “Have _you_ ever told him he looks like a criminal?”

“Yes, actually.” The beginnings of a smirk were already forming on the corner of the green-haired teen’s lips. “If you look hard enough, you’ll see that he _is_ a criminal.”

“…” Ryuko’s scowl deepened. “Whatever. You’re both fuckin’ weirdoes.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, yeah! Ryuko-chan, I almost forgot!” Mako suddenly piped up. She set Moriko down onto the tiled floor, turning to look up at her best friend. “Look what I found in my bag! It’s so weird!” The brunette dug out a small, spherical object from her shorts pocket and held it out for Ryuko to see. It was a normal pokeball by all means, but with some sort of flame design on it.

The black-haired teen’s eyes widened once she remembered what exactly that pokeball contained. “I thought you left him with the rest!”

“I know! But he’s… here?” Mako looked hopelessly confused. “You know what, I’m gonna let him out. Go!”

Flinging the pokeball to the ground, the flash of red light appeared and disappeared within seconds, leaving a quadruped, canine pokemon sniffing around inquisitively. The moment it looked up and caught sight of both Mako and Ryuko, however, the orange-and-black pokemon threw itself on the brunette, licking her face furiously.

Uzu’s jaw dropped. “A growlithe! What the hell, I’ve always wanted one!”

Houka pushed his glasses upwards. “Well, this is interesting.”

“Ahh, Guts! Calm down!” Mako cried, laughing in between licks. The growlithe, Guts, reluctantly backed down, settling comfortably in Mako’s arms. The brunette peered down at him, giving the growlithe a quizzical look. “I thought I left you with Mom and Dad and Matarou! Why’re you here?”

“Growl, growlithe growl!” Guts barked uselessly.

Mako turned to Ryuko for help. The black-haired girl pointed at the number card she held – 56 – and said, “They’re still on 48, I can’t get Senketsu to translate him.”

“Translate, you say?” Houka asked, immediately perking up. “Is this Senketsu of yours a psychic-type who can speak through telepathy?”

“It’s a honedge, actually,” Uzu said slowly. “It could use telepathy? And it was some sort of freakish mutation… damn, what is that honedge of yours made of?”

“Mutation?” Houka’s interest was now thoroughly piqued. “May I see this honedge of yours?”

“49,” the intercom dinged.

Ryuko gave him a look. Houka sighed and shrugged off his navy blue backpack, reaching in to grab a pokeball and a smaller-than-average laptop out. The blue-haired teen twirled the pokeball around on his pointer finger, saying, “This pokemon is quite smart. He’s managed to install a program that translates whatever a pokemon is saying. If I let you use this program, then let me see your honedge when you get it back.”

Ryuko faltered. On one hand, she did want to see this program in action – the only poke-translators she had ever heard of were on the TV and were always being sold for ridiculous prices, so she was rather curious about a program that a _pokemon_ had built. (Damn, and she thought humans were supposed to be the intelligent species.) But then this was Houka, a boy she had known for all of ten minutes and was _very_ suspicious…

“Let’s do it!” Mako cheered. Houka took that as an affirmative from _both_ Mako and Ryuko and nodded, smirking victoriously over at the shocked-still Ryuko. Beside him, Uzu sighed, shaking his head slightly while muttering something under his breath.

“Good choice.” His smirk widened as he tapped the small button on the center of the pokeball. “Analog, it’s time to test it out.”

In an uncharacteristically dull flash of red light, a small, bipedal, reptilian pokemon came out. Now, when Ryuko saw it, she immediately thought _okay, that’s not normal._ The pokemon Houka called Analog was a snivy, and while Ryuko knew snivies were not particularly known for their size, she _swore_ that snivies could not possible be that small. It stared at its audience with a flat gaze, before turning away wordlessly and flipping the small laptop Houka had previously gotten out open. Much to Ryuko and Mako’s surprise, the snivy started typing away on the small keyboard with its equally tiny fingers. Seconds later, a window popped up on the screen, primarily colored in black and green. The words ‘INPUT SPEECH’ in big, bold letters was stamped on the top of the window.

Analog clicked on a button that looked like a speaker and glanced at Guts expectantly. Mako repeated her question to the growlithe, who barked out his answer. The snivy pressed the speaker again and turned his laptop so the screen faced Mako and Ryuko. On it were the words ‘Mom put me in your bag!’.

“That’s what your growlithe said,” Houka explained lightly.

Ryuko gazed at the screen in somewhat-concealed fascination while Mako looked down at the growlithe in her arms. “What do you mean? So Mom put your pokeball in my bag while I wasn’t looking?”

Guts nodded, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

“Whaaa? So that means she knew I was going to run off before I left the note!” Mako gasped. “Oh gosh, I should probably call her! But, wait, I might be lectured…”

While the brunette mused to herself on what to do, Ryuko redirected her gaze to Houka, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Pokemon aren’t possibly this smart.”

Houka shrugged. “They can be.” He hesitated, then slowly placed his hand on Analog’s head. The snivy’s eyes lit up with delight, and nuzzled its snout into Houka’s hand, completely out of character from a few moments ago.

Feeling rather warm in his cheeks, Houka abruptly switched the conversation topic before Ryuko’s smirk could get any wider. “Your honedge. You _will_ let me see it, won’t you?”

“If I want you to go away, then I’ll have to,” Ryuko grumbled, crossing her arms as her lips turned down into a scowl.

“Good.” The bespectacled teen returned Analog into his pokeball and placed the laptop back in his backpack.

Uzu raised an eyebrow. “It actually worked this time, huh?”

“Of course it did. Were you expecting it to fail a third time?” Houka frowned, pushing his glasses up. Ryuko easily noted that adjusting his glasses was a natural instinct for the teen, especially when nervous or angered.

“A _third_ time? You mean that program thing of yours, like… spontaneously combusted or some shit before?” Ryuko’s eyes widened.

“The system broke down in the first attempt and on the second, it made a noise and Poka set the laptop on fire.” Uzu shrugged. “Houka was smart enough to fireproof it first. I don’t know how he managed to fireproof a laptop, but considering this is the same guy who managed to stea–” A hand slammed over the green-haired teen’s mouth, effectively muffling the rest of his sentence.

Houka adjusted his glasses once more, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. He closed his eyes, counted in doubles, then opened them again. Uzu was staring at him with an unimpressed expression. Houka hesitated, before feeling something wet run along his palm. He let out a shriek, retracted his arm faster than humanely possible, and violently wiped it on Uzu’s arm.

Ryuko watched the exchange with a dumbfounded look. The two seemed to have forgotten she was still there, so she made a safe retreat back to Mako’s side, who seemed to be in a crisis.

“Ryuko-chan! Should I call Mom?” the brunette cried out, still hugging Guts close to her, Moriko settled by her feet. “She’d probably go all mom-ish on me though! That’d take _way way way_ too much time!”

“Hey, calm down,” Ryuko said, gently patting Mako’s head. “Uh, how ‘bout this; don’t do anything at all? Guts is a pretty good pokemon, isn’t he?”

“He’s a pet.” Mako blinked. “But he’s okay. Ish.”

“That’ll do.” Ryuko resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “He can join your team, too. So now we each have three pokemon to help out, y’see?”

It took a while for Mako to process the information in her brain, but the brunette eventually understood. Nodding excitedly, she said, “So then, that’ll make it easier for us to find your dad’s killer!”

There was silence in the background. Houka and Uzu halted in their squabble to stare at Ryuko incredulously, as well as a couple other nearby trainers. Mako realized her mistake and almost screamed, but Ryuko slammed a hand over her mouth, looking up at the pokemon center’s counter.

“56,” the intercom announced.

Ryuko practically flew to the counter; by this time, the other trainers had regained their composure and had started talking about it, clearing a way for Ryuko as she snatched her pokeballs from the nurse’s grip and stalked back up the stairs, gesturing for Mako. The brunette quickly sprang to attention, running over to Ryuko’s side and rushing up to their room together. 

“…” Uzu stared at the duo’s retreating backs. “Father’s killer?”

“It can’t possibly be… _him_ , can it?” Houka muttered.

The green-haired teen sighed. “Guess that meeting with Satsuki-sama just got a whole lot more important.”

 

 

 

Once both Ryuko and Mako had gathered all of their things, Ryuko snapped the pokeball belt across her waist and clipped her three pokeballs on them. She scowled when she realized they all looked the same; in a real battle, she wouldn’t be able to tell which was which. She mentally reminded herself to buy some tape and a marker the next time they hit a town. 

Mako peered at the belt curiously. “Where’d you get that, Ryuko-chan?”

“I won a battle,” Ryuko lied.

“Coolios.” Mako settled for stuffing her pokeballs in her shorts pocket as well, though she decided to let Chesse stay out. The chespin yawned, stretching her arms, then clambered onto Mako’s shoulder. The brunette stared at Ryuko for a bit, before saying, “Why don’t you try it?”

“Try what?” Ryuko asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice as she grabbed some candy the nurses left on their table and shoved them in her pockets, unwrapping a lemon-flavored one and throwing it in her mouth.

“You know, letting your pokemon stay out of the ball with you.” Mako grinned. “It helps with the trust thing!”

Ryuko let out a heavy sigh, before unclipping a pokeball off her belt and pressing the button in the middle. Fenre popped out, looked a bit dazed at its surroundings, then looked back up at Ryuko in confusion.

“Hey, uh. Gonna let you stay out of the ball for a bit, I guess,” Ryuko said, her words clonking about awkwardly. “You okay with that?”

“Kin,” Fenre mumbled, unsteadily going onto its hind legs and outstretching its front paws to Ryuko. The black-haired teen hesitated, before reluctantly picking the fennekin up from the floor and, after some directions, placing it on her head. “Fen. Fennekin!”

“Don’t complain, you’re gonna give me a headache,” Ryuko muttered. “It’s bad enough that you weigh, like, a hundred pounds or whatever. Now hurry up, we gotta go.”

“What? But–”

“Don’t have time, gotta go gotta go gotta go,” Ryuko persisted, and Mako shrugged, following her best friend down the stairs.

 

 

 

It was ten in the evening when Satsuki _finally_ decided that that was enough training for one day and they could stop. They rented a room in the pokemon center, opting for Iori to do it for them, as Satsuki couldn’t show her face in public and Nonon plain didn’t want to. 

Nonon didn’t even bother to change out of her traveling clothes and instead just plain snored away on her bed. Iori let out their pokemon, and Satsuki went off to take a bath. It took two good hours for the teen to finally get out of the shower, and by then, Iori had already curled into a ball on his bed and had fallen asleep, Kyurin the chikorita by his side. Karen the piplup and Shiro the froakie had pounced into the bathroom the very moment Satsuki had stepped out, so she decided to leave them to their business.

Taking a seat on the bed provided, Satsuki flipped on the pokedex that had been shoved carelessly in one of the pockets of her bag and eyed the two pokeball icons next to her portrait. Shiro’s pokeball was on the edge of her bed, about to topple straight off the side, and Satsuki didn’t glance at it a second time. She’d find it in the morning. For now, she thought as she stuffed the pokedex back in the pocket and pointedly ignoring the other pokeball still clipped to her pokeball belt, she needed rest, and she was going to get it.

 

 

 

Shiro went out of the bathroom first, leaving Karen alone in the shower. It didn’t take long for the piplup to shut off the water and scamper out of the room , her fear of bathrooms evident. The froakie gave her a teasing grin, which Karen scowled at and blew a bubble at Shiro. Kyurin’s ears perked, and he jumped off the bed, frowning disapprovingly at the two water-types. 

“ _It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong,_ ” Karen sing-songed, looking mighty proud of herself.

“ _That_ hurt _,_ ” Shiro whined.

“ _At least_ try _to keep quiet. You’re gonna wake ‘em all up if you keep being noisy,_ ” Kyurin said.

“ _Trainer’s pet,_ ” Karen snickered.

The chikorita fumed, but calmed himself down in record speed. Turning around haughtily, Kyurin jumped back onto Iori’s bed and settled beside his trainer, easily dozing off after a few minutes.

Shiro turned to look at Karen at the same time Karen turned to look at Shiro. They both grinned, and rushed to look outside the window. The rain was pouring in buckets, as they had expected, and they easily clambered outside, jumping the relatively short distance from the second floor to the cobblestone roads of Camphrier City.

Most of the area was bathed in darkness, with only the occasional street lamp lighting up the city. Shiro had already taken to a small, but deep puddle, whilst Karen had much higher standards. “ _Come on, weirdo, that puddle’s not big enough._ ”

“ _Aw! But look at it, it’s all deep and stuff!_ ”

The piplup shook her head vehemently. Shiro rolled his eyes and stuck out his long tongue, but followed after Karen anyway – with great reluctance.

Eventually, they reached a much larger puddle, this one located just by the route they had gone to for training. Shiro dove into the puddle with much enthusiasm, while Karen scouted the area for a bit to make sure it was safe. Once she concluded there was nothing of note, she leapt into the puddle, showering the froakie with muddy water in the process.

“ _Rude!_ ”

“ _Like you aren’t! Jumping in without me, that’s rude-_ er _!_ ”

The two continued their bickering by splashing water at each other relentlessly. Karen managed to pin Shiro beneath her and started spouting bubbles on his face. Shiro yelped, attempting to kick her off, but the piplup held fast.

Just as the froakie was about to give up, Karen abruptly halted and stood up, suddenly alert and all senses perked. Shiro carefully stood back up as well, scouring the area with large yellow eyes.

‘ _… Your names._ ’

Karen shrieked. Shiro jumped. They both fell back into the puddle, and when they got back to their feet, they immediately held on to each other, trembling in fear. A twig snapped a few ways away from them, and the piplup let out another shrill squeak.

There was some sort of soft chuckle, and the voice rang out in their heads once more. ‘ _I mean no harm. Please, tell me. What are your trainers’ names?_ ’

“ _…_ ” Karen narrowed her eyes, putting up a brave façade as best as she could. “ _Why should we tell you?!_ ”

‘ _Because… well, really, you’d regret not telling me._ ’

There was a brilliant flash of blue light. Then, it disappeared, and all went dark once again.


	4. route 2, supplies, and the abuse of a little boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuko gets some temporary travelling companions against her will. Then she beats up a little kid and all is well for now.

“You _promised_ ,” Houka said indignantly, trailing after the very annoyed black-haired teen even as she exited the pokemon center. “Show me your honedge!”

“For fuck’s sake!” Ryuko shouted, shoving Houka to the side impatiently. “Now’s not the time, weirdo! I have to go already!”

“…” Houka smirked. “You’re really planning on going through Santalune Forest without at least shopping for _some_ supplies?”

“It’s just some dumb forest, I’ll make it through!”

His smirk ever widened. “How stupid can you get?”

“Santalune Forest isn’t easy, dumbass rookie,” Uzu grumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets as he joined Ryuko’s side. Mako looked very surprised at the new additions, while Ryuko just looked greatly annoyed. “You’ll need a shit-ton of potions and status healers. And an escape rope, you _need_ escape ropes. Also some antidotes, you’d be dead two seconds in if you don’t have a whole bag of antidotes with you–”

“Fine!” Ryuko screamed. She turned on her heel to face the stunned Houka and unclipped a pokeball off her belt. Peering through the transparent red case, she could see the vague outline of a honedge in there, and so she threw it towards the blue-haired teen. Houka caught it unsteadily, still looking a bit shocked. “My honedge is in there. In exchange, _you_ buy me my shit!”

“I already–”

“Did you _hear_ me, blue boy?” Ryuko hissed, her voice lowering to a dangerous level. “I said, in exchange for looking at my honedge, _you buy me my shit_.”

Uzu whistled. Houka shot him a glare, then turned his glare onto Ryuko. One could almost see the sparks flying in between them, but Houka eventually gave in. He huffed indignantly, turned around, and marched straight back into the pokemon center.

“Kin,” Fenre barked disapprovingly. Ryuko entertained the fennekin with a ‘shut up’ before taking a seat on a nearby bench and crossing her arms, waiting impatiently for the blue-haired teen to return. Mako trotted over next to her and plopped right down, eliciting a squeak from Chesse, while Uzu settled for heading in the center as well.

After a bit, Houka returned with Uzu in tow, carrying two large plastic bags filled to the brim with items. Uzu seemed to have gotten some bags as well, though they were more along the lines of traveling bags. Ryuko raised an inquiring eyebrow at them.

“We’ll come with you for a while,” Uzu said. “The dog’s seen your honedge and you wouldn’t be able to get him away from it even if you used that brown girl’s Herculean strength.” He gestured to Mako, who tilted her head. “You’re heading to Santalune next, aren’t you? We’re off for Camphrier, so we’re basically traveling the same route. No problem with that, right?”

Ryuko glowered at him. “Can’t leave me alone now, can you, monkey?”

“Shut up.”

“Kin! Fenne- _kin!_ ” Fenre suddenly exclaimed, pointing with her front paw over at Houka. “Fenne, fennekin!” She looked over at Chesse. “Fen?”

“Ches,” Chesse said dully, looking completely disinterested in the conversation. “Pin. Chespin.”

“Fenne,” Fenre growled, narrowing her eyes. In one swift move, the fennekin hopped off Ryuko’s head, almost detaching the black-haired girl’s head from her neck and eliciting a loud curse from her trainer. Fenre peered up at Houka suspiciously, eyeing the blue-haired teen with distrust. “Fennekin!”

Houka shuffled uncomfortably. “What does your fennekin want from me?” He looked over at Ryuko, who wore an annoyed expression and a face that screamed ‘I don’t know and I don’t care’.

“Fennekin! Fenne, fennekin!” Fenre insisted, jumping onto Houka’s waist and clawing on one of the pokeballs clipped onto his belt. Houka yelped, stumbling backwards, but that didn’t stop one of his pokeballs to fly out and land on the ground, releasing the pokemon inside.

A rounded, pink little pokemon that looked about the same height as Analog popped out, waving its flat blue bill around and blinking its large round eyes in confusion. It let out a beeping noise, floating around and nosing (billing?) Fenre curiously. Fenre retracted, scowling, before letting out an angry bark.

“Por?” It blinked once more, tilting its head to the side.

“Kin! Fennekin!” Fenre turned to Chesse for help, but the chespin turned her head haughtily. “ _Kin!_ ”

“Ches,” Chesse said.

Fenre huffed indignantly, then turned back to the porygon2. After a while of staring at it, she turned to her trainer, who had her brows furrowed in confusion. “Fennekin. Fenne, kin-fennekin?”

“I don’t know what you’re saying,” Ryuko said, frustrated. “I don’t think I’ll care, either.”

“This isn’t important, I’m sure,” Houka said, with perhaps a little too much force in his voice than normal. “Come on, let’s go. There’s nothing you’re going to get from Piconet.”

“What the fuck kind of name is Piconet?” Ryuko said.

Houka didn’t answer, instead giving her a pointed look before picking the pokeball up from the ground and returning Piconet the porygon2 to its pokeball. “There, see? Let’s go now, shall we?”

Uzu rolled his eyes. “Clearly you’re great at this sort of thing.”

Houka smacked him.

Mako stared at the exchange with confusion written all over her face. “What just happened? What were all the pokemon talking about?”

Ryuko shrugged. “Pokemon really are weird as fuck.”

Chesse squeaked and Fenre barked. Ryuko ignored them both and marched straight on to where she supposed was the general direction of Santalune Forest.

“… Ryuko-chan? Where’re you going?” Mako cocked her head. “You’re heading back to Route 1… did you forget something, maybe?"

Ryuko abruptly halted, turned on her heel, and continued on the exact opposite direction, face flaming. Mako, noticing nothing wrong, trotted along happily beside her, while Uzu and Houka sighed and trailed after them.

 

 

 

‘ _Hey, how’d it go?_ ’

‘ _They’re scared to death of me. I can barely get them to talk again. Onee-chan, did I do something wrong?!_ ’

‘ _Nooo… did you use that white light entrance again?_ ’

‘ _Uh… I may have._ ’

‘ _Oh for Father’s sake, Yang._ ’

‘ _B-But I wanted to try out the lines I practiced all morning!_ ’

‘ _… You_ practiced lines _?_ ’

‘ _… Ah, crap._ ’

 

 

 

It didn’t take long for Ryuko and company to get to Route 2, but the real time-taking event was getting _through_ Route 2 and _to_ Santalune Forest. On the way, they bumped into a couple of trainers and overexcited preteens, who engaged in battle with whoever decided to take up the mantle. Ryuko didn’t even try to look their way, which ended up with either Mako or Uzu taking the battle for their own. 

“You guys really need ‘dexes,” Uzu remarked after Mako had just barely scraped by the last battle they had gotten themselves into. “Unless you memorize all your pokemon’s moves and estimate their level, you’re not going to get very far with the trainer career.”

“Those are expensive as fuck, I’m assuming,” Ryuko grumbled.

“You’re right in that area.”

“Fucker.” The black-haired girl shoved her hands deeper into her jacket pockets, feeling a headache coming on. “What’s a way to get money quickly, then?”

“Gee, I don’t know, actually _try_ to fight against other trainers?” Houka’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Defeating them makes them giving you half their money.”

Ryuko stopped in her tracks. “… Half their money?”

“What, you didn’t know that? Didn’t you fight Sanageyama earlier?”

“It was over a belt.” She turned on her heel, scouring the area for any possible trainers who still had their pokemon in fighting spirit. “Spotted!” Ryuko made a mad dash towards the lone trainer, surrounded by a fletchling and a pikachu. Mako eagerly bounded after her, Chesse squeaking in protest in her arms.

“Hey, you!” Ryuko declared dramatically, pointing at the bespectacled boy. His glasses were almost as big as his face, and freckles dotted the bridge of his nose. He was the concrete stereotype of a nerd. Or geek. Were they the same? Ryuko didn’t particularly care. The boy glanced up from his pikachu, surprised and confused. “I challenge you to a battle! That okay?”

“Uh–”

“Whatever, let’s just fight already! Fenre, beat this kid’s shitty pokemon up, down, and sideways!” The fennekin jumped off Ryuko’s head, landing on the grass unsteadily. She growled, bristling as the boy hesitantly directed his fletchling forward. “Fenre, uh…” ‘ _Shit, not again–_ ’

“L-Ling, use Peck, like we practiced!” ‘ _Jesus shit, this boy practiced against other fennekin?_ ’ Unable to create much of a strategy, the fletchling flew forward and jabbed its glowing peak onto the tuft of fur in Fenre’s left ear. The fennekin howled in pain, which surprised Ryuko because she was pretty sure glowing beaks didn’t hurt that much. “Okay, now use Quick Attack!”

‘ _Oh shit, the little kid is actually good at this._ ’ “Fenre, uh – Ember!” ‘ _That’s gotta be something she knows. Right?_ ’

Thankfully, it was, but unthankfully, it was little more of a puff of smoke than an actual Ember attack. Fenre blew the small smoke cloud out at the fletchling, blinding it for a moment before it sped right through and crashed against Fenre’s small frame, knocking both of them off their feet. The fletchling flapped back up into the air, eyeing the fennekin warily, but despite Ryuko’s enraged yells, Fenre didn’t get back up.

The black-haired teen absorbed the fennekin back into her pokeball with barely-contained fury, pointedly ignoring Uzu and Houka’s presence behind her. Mako was oddly silent, staring intently at the book the boy held in his arm. The fletchling chirped, flitting back to perch on the boy’s shoulder, who stroked its head with two fingers fondly.

“S-Saya!” Ryuko stammered out, throwing the pokeball in the air and releasing the sneasel. The pokeball came flying back, hitting her nose, but Ryuko stuffed it back in her pocket and pointed at the fletchling as it flew back up into the air. “Icy Wind!”

“Snea!” A burst of cold air was expelled from the sneasel’s mouth, hitting the fletchling dead-on for once, the bird pokemon not fast enough to fly out of the way. It descended several feet, but hovered above the ground unsteadily, obviously leaning on its right wing as its left had been the main target of the Icy Wind. “Sneasel snea!”

“I don’t know what you’re saying but just hit it with another Icy Wind!”

“P-Peck! On the,” the boy faltered, consulted his book with incredible speed, then said, “On the jewel on its forehead!”

“Fuck you!” Ryuko spat. “Change of plans, dodge it then use Faint Attack!” It was a move Uzu had told her Saya was strong enough to use, though she had never actually seen it in action.

The fletchling flew forward, beak glowing once more, but Saya disappeared in a flash of darkness. She reappeared behind the confused fletchling in mid-air, before jumping it and slashing at it with her gleaming claws. Now they gleamed with blood, the metallic stench of it spurting into the cold late afternoon air.

“Ling!” the boy cried, eyes wide and alarmed. “Ling, no! R-Return!” With a bright – almost blinding – flash of red light, the fletchling disappeared into its pokeball. The boy cradled it against his chest, his eyes growing watery. “I’m s-sorry, Ling! I didn’t know…”

“…” Ryuko stared at the boy’s one-sided interaction with his fletchling as Saya retreated to her side, licking her claws clean. Mako let out a gasp at the show, while Uzu crossed his arms and Houka’s expression remained neutral. The pikachu the boy owned, Ryuko noticed, had crawled over to its trainer’s side and tugged on his shirt worriedly, before it directed its hardened gaze to both Saya and her trainer.

“Chu, pika-pikachu!” it growled, going on all fours and cheeks sparking. Its tail was raised in the air, twitching agitatedly. “Pika _chu_ pikachu!”

Whatever it had said, Saya didn’t like it, because a vein popped on the sneasel’s head and she jumped into the field once more, fur bristling as she shot back with a “Sneasel snea-sneasel!”

“Chu, are you still going to fight?” the boy asked softly, turning his gaze to his pikachu. “You saw what happened to Ling! A-And I don’t want you to get hurt, and, and–”

“Pika,” the pikachu said in a soothing kind of tone, patting the boy’s leg reassuringly. “Pika, pikachu. Chu!”

It took a little while, but the boy eventually nodded, a cracked smile forming on his face. “O-Okay, if you say so…” He turned to look at Ryuko, forcing a glare that came out as a grimace. “H-Hey, you! I’ll make you pay for what you did to my fletchling!”

“Bring it on, kid,” Ryuko said, sneering. It was just a pikachu, she reasoned. Even if they starred on those shitty Saturday morning cartoons fifty times more than other pokemon, it wasn’t like they were _that_ strong, right?

… was what she thought until the pikachu knocked Saya to the ground in a single bolt of thunder.

“Holy shit!” The black-haired teen kneeled down to observe Saya’s injuries. Her fur was ruffled and spiked up, she still crackled with leftover electricity, and was overall down for the count. “Fuck. Sorry about that, Saya.” She returned the sneasel to her pokeball, frowning over at the confident smirk the pikachu held. They were both down to one pokemon now, but at least Ryuko had saved the best for last. “Senketsu, bring this fucker down to strength!”

Out popped the honedge from his pokeball, blood red blade glimmering in the sunlight. The boy’s eyes widened to three times their size and Houka immediately sat down on a rock, opened his backpack, and dug out a laptop. Senketsu looked around a bit at his surroundings, then eventually settled into a fighting stance, staring down his opponent as best as he could with one eye. It seemed to work purely on appearance, though, as the pikachu looked very alarmed at the prospect of fighting against the honedge.

“C-Chu, do you still wanna fight? You can back out, you know, it’s okay,” the boy reassured. Chu shook its head, though, and the boy said nothing else, instead directing his attention to the honedge in front of him. “H-Hey… miss… that’s your honedge?”

“Mutation,” Ryuko deadpanned.

“O-Oh.” The boy’s eyes flickered over to Senketsu once more before he nodded to the pikachu. “Okay, then, use Thundershock again! Aim for the eye!”

“Fucking again with weak spots!” Ryuko’s patience was running low – at least, lower than normal. “Senketsu, Fury Cutter that shit to ribbons!”

**_No need for the vulgar language._** Nonetheless, the honedge dove for the pikachu at an astonishingly fast speed, even compared to the normally high speed of a pikachu. Chu zapped him with a quick Thundershock, but the surprise of the honedge’s speed had messed with its aim and only just grazed the honedge’s hilt. Senketsu managed to slash across the pikachu’s face. Chu staggered backwards, landing on its rear, clutching at its face with both claws. The cut wasn’t deep enough to draw blood, but it hurt all the same.

“C-Chu!” the boy cried out. “Use Thunder Wave, try to paralyze it!”

“Fury Cutter, and uh–” ‘ _What did he say? He made his scyther attack Senketsu repeatedly – repeat!_ ’ “Fury Cutter, repeat!”

**_Repeat?_** Senketsu seemed to understand the command well enough, though, as he sped forward once more and slashed at the cut on the pikachu’s face. Chu let out a high-pitched squeak, sending electric shocks running across the ground and aimed in no particular direction. Senketsu tried to hover into the air higher to escape the Thunder Waves, but Chu simply waved its paw and sent the crackling electrical volts towards the honedge. Senketsu winced, blade laden with electricity, and he sunk downwards a little bit. He tried moving, but his body seemed to be fixed in place.

“Good job, Chu! If it doesn’t hurt too much, use Thunder Shock! Remember, the eye!” the boy called out encouragingly. Chu nodded vaguely, getting onto its feet unsteadily, and managed to summon a bolt of thunder aimed straight for Senketsu. It hit the honedge straight on its eye, knocking him backwards and sending the honedge skidding backwards on the grass, stopping just in front of Ryuko. The black-haired girl cursed, and prodded Senketsu with her foot.

“You still alive?”

**_Don’t put such… such little faith in me. Of course I am._** The honedge, with much difficulty, returned to the air. Ryuko could clearly see he was lurching back and forth slightly, however, and the tiny conscience in the back of her head told her he couldn’t possibly take anymore abuse. **_… I can still fight. Do not worry._**

“I’m not worrying,” she spat, trying desperately to ignore the little part in her mind. Funny how he could apparently read her mind; really, she didn’t want anyone digging into the archives of her brain. “Fury Cutter again, now! It better hit!”

She could have sworn Senketsu rolled his one eye, but the honedge rushed forward anyway. His speed had drastically slowed, and although some of the paralysis had left his system, he was now painfully slower than the pikachu. Taking full advantage of that, the boy yelled out, “Chu, Play Nice!”

Now _that_ was one move Ryuko remembered – or rather, inferred what the effect would be based on the name alone. “Senketsu, listen to me now!” The honedge halted abruptly, turning around to look over at his trainer in confusion. “Reminder: you’re a bloodthirsty monster and you’re going to help me find my dad’s… mortal enemy! Nothing else! No making friends with the other side! You hear me?!”

**_I am inside your head. I can hear you just fine,_** the honedge grumbled mentally. He turned back to the battle, nonetheless, and resumed his rush to the pikachu. Chu tried its best to use the move, laughing and (what seemed like) telling a joke and even, God forbid, using a _pick-up line_ (‘ _I thought this was Play Nice, not fucking Attract!_ ’), but Senketsu was thankfully straight and slashed repeatedly over at the pikachu wherever he could. Chu cried out in pain, backing away, then finally toppling backward when Senketsu landed one clean hit on its forehead.

“Chu!” the boy stumbled over to his pikachu’s side, eyeing its injuries worriedly. “Chu, are you alright? No, that’s a stupid question, of _course_ you’re not – ungh, I’m really sorry, Chu! You did a great job, so just rest for now.” With another bright flash of red light, the boy absorbed the pikachu back into its pokeball and stood back up, facing Ryuko as he put on a brave face as best as he could. “T-That was a good b-battle.”

“You sure don’t look like you mean it.” Ryuko held out Senketsu’s pokeball and absorbed the honedge back into it, shyly mumbling a ‘good job’ as he was sucked back inside. Clipping the pokeball to her belt, she looked at the boy expectantly. “I hear I get money if I beat little kids like you. How much?”

The boy shifted nervously, then sighed and pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket. He started counting the money, but before he could hand them over to Ryuko and get to the pokemon center, Mako had stepped forward and held her hands over her head in a cross position. “Hold it! Hoooold it hold it hold it hold it!”

“Jesus, Mako, what is it now? I want my money,” Ryuko said exasperatedly as the boy slowly withdrew his hand holding the money.

“First of all!” She pointed to Ryuko. “You need a ‘dex! And a handy-dandy-handbook! And a _bag!_ ” She turned her gaze to the boy next. “And since she beat you to a pulp, you have to buy her these things! It’s fair, right?”

“But I’ll end up using more of my money than if I just gave some to her,” the boy said with a heavy tone to his voice.

“She still beat you and it’s not like there wasn’t a set reward for this fight!” Mako jumped up and down, flailing her arms about. Chesse had transferred to her shoulder. “Come on come on come on! Do it do it do it!”

“O-Okay, geez, _fine!_ ” the boy said, backing away from Mako slightly as he held his hands up in front of his chest defensively. “Uh, a ‘dex, and a handbook, and I guess a bag, right?” Mako nodded. “Okay… do I go buy them now, or will you come with me?”

“Go buy ‘em, slave,” Ryuko said flatly. The boy nodded and hurriedly ran back to Aquacorde Town. Once the boy had gone completely out of sight, Uzu sighed heavily and flipped out his own pokedex, eyeing the time on the screen and glancing up at the darkening sky.

“It’s already six,” the green-haired teen said blandly.

“Wonderful observation, Sherlock,” Houka replied. “Matoi, may I see your honedge’s pokeball for a moment?”

“…” Ryuko stared at him. “Why?”

“Data.” The bespectacled teen leaned back slightly, having switched his seat on a rock to in front of a tree, his back facing the trunk. Unclipping a pokeball from his belt, he released a pokemon that looked similar to Piconet, but with yellow eyes with black rings, somewhat resembling a bull’s-eye. What was somewhat disturbing was that its head was completely detached from its body. “Tera, we’ve encountered a strange occurrence. It appears to be some sort of modification made specially through breeding and insertion of strange… things in its body. Honedge, male, healthy in all aspects besides having recently gotten into a battle. Conduct a scan on it and report within five minutes.”

“Gonnn,” the porygon-z hummed. It looked up at Ryuko expectantly, even though Houka hadn’t told it anything about the honedge being owned by the black-haired teen. “Gonnn… gonnn…”

“Your pokemon freak me out,” Ryuko said, hesitantly unclipping Senketsu’s pokeball from her belt and handing it to – what’d Houka call it? – Tera. “All of them.”

“I can imagine.” Houka pulled out another laptop from his bag – Ryuko vaguely wondered exactly how many of those he kept – and flipped it open. It had a strange, indecipherable logo on its cover, and didn’t seem to be made from any of the mainstream companies like Silph. Tera blinked blankly, pokeball still levitating with the aid of its psychic energy, before it moved nearer to the laptop and –

“Holy fuck!” The porygon-z had disappeared, seemingly melding in with the data on the laptop. Ryuko looked around wildly, but didn’t see hide nor hair of Senketsu’s pokeball. “Where’d that little shit take Senketsu?!”

“Calm down. It’s only a little scan,” Houka explained lightly, spindly fingers flying over the keys on the keyboard. Something flashed on the screen, visible through the teen’s reflective glasses, and Houka scowled. “Well, this isn’t good.”

“Why? What happened?” Ryuko said, her voice just a shy softer than shouting. “If something happened to Senketsu I swear to God I’ll–”

“Nothing of that sort.” Houka rolled his eyes slightly. “Tera can’t get any additional info on your Senketsu, besides the fact that he seems to be related to another honedge that apparently someone I know owns.” He furrowed his brows. “Rather disappointing, but I suppose this was to be expected. Would you like to read the data I’ve managed to accumulate from the battle?”

“Lemme.” So the blue-haired teen turned his laptop for the screen to face Ryuko, and she was assaulted with an explosion of mind-numbing information. From what she could read, Senketsu’s physical appearance was proof of his supernatural strength and seemed to have been bred specially for some sort of reason. There were also, as Houka had mentioned, _things_ inside him, kind of like parasites, but also kind of like not. It was all very confusing, but Ryuko read on.

He was older than Ryuko by around two or three years, from Ryuko’s estimates. The corners of her lips turned down slightly; it was somewhat uncomfortable, knowing one of your pokemon was older than you by so much. He was a ghost and steel-type, though it looked like he had a natural resistance to fire-type attacks for some reason, despite his steel typing. It seemed incredibly overpowered to Ryuko, but she wouldn’t look a gift ponyta in the mouth. Gender, level, moves (Tackle, Fury Cutter, and something called Swords Dance, it seemed)… these were things Ryuko already knew or didn’t care about, so she skimmed most of that. However, it seemed that that was the end of everything Houka had managed to gather. Despite the disappointing lack of interesting info, it was still a wonder he had gotten all of that from just one battle that barely even lasted a few minutes.

“Is that it?” Ryuko asked, pulling away and straightening into a proper position. Houka nodded, adjusting the screen once more, much to Mako’s chagrin; the brunette had started reading while Ryuko was in the middle of it and was only halfway through. “Bred specially, sort-of-parasites living in him…” Ryuko’s scowl deepened. “This is all starting to sound like some shitty anime.”

“I’ve seen worse anime than this, believe me,” Uzu muttered from his spot a few ways away. “Oh, here comes Tera.”

“Wha–” Before Ryuko could react, the porygon-z materialized out of polygons in front of the laptop, inches away from Houka’s face. The bespectacled teen didn’t seem bothered in the least, however, and he retrieved Senketsu’s pokeball from Tera’s ‘grip’ on it easily. “Telling you know, dog, your pokemon are fucking creepy.”

“That’s nothing new.” Houka inspected the pokeball for any other things he might have missed, but he didn’t seem to find anything of note. He reluctantly handed the pokeball back to Ryuko, who snatched it out of his hand and clipped it back to her belt protectively. “If I find anything else that seems related to your honedge, I’ll tell you. But don’t expect much; this is mostly for personal gain, so I might not give you all the details.”

“You little _shi_ –”

“I’ve heard that insult several times in the past few hours I’ve been with you. It’s not getting any more creative, really.” Houka closed his laptop and slid it back in his backpack, along with what seemed to be Tera’s special laptop. The porygon-z zipped around Uzu, Ryuko, and Mako, peering at each of them curiously, humming all the while. “I believe we’ve stayed here long enough. Where is the boy?”

As if on cue, the familiar mop of black, messy hair and giant circular glasses came bursting out from the distance, carrying a small plastic bag as he did so. The boy came to a stop in front of Ryuko, panting heavily as he handed the bag to the girl and flopped down on the grass, trying to catch his breath. “Sorry if I took a while, there was a line in the center while I was healing Ling and Chu–”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ryuko interrupted, eagerly digging out the – ‘ _oh God oh God oh God_ please _don’t let it be pink or some shit_ ’ – gray backpack. “Oh fuck yes!” There was a red pokedex in the bag as well, too, and a thick brown book, but Ryuko focused on her new bag first. “Yes yes yes yes yes. Thank you, slave!”

The boy stared at up at her with obvious disdain, though he tried to hide it. “You’re… welcome. Can I go now?”

“Yeah, sure.” The boy left without another word, though he did raise a hand in goodbye to Uzu and Mako. “Oh my God _yes_ I finally have a new bag. Fuck, I didn’t think he’d actually get me one!”

“Why _wouldn’t_ he get you one? You’re charming,” Uzu said dryly, voice leaking with sarcasm.

“Shut. Alright, let’s see…”

“You can take a look at your trinkets later,” Houka said, standing up from his spot on the ground. Dusting off his pants, he looked up at the sky; it had already grown dark enough for the moon to start becoming visible. “It’s nearly night, and I’m fairly sure _I_ don’t want the purrloins and murkrows trying to get my things. Come on, I’ve been through here before, I know a fine camping site.”

“What the fuck are purrloins and murkrows?” Ryuko muttered. 

“Things you definitely don’t want stealing your stuff,” Uzu said. Ryuko snorted and stuck her hands in her jacket pockets once more.

 

 

 

‘ _What about now? You get through?_ ’

‘ _Amazingly enough. Huh, looks like she’s got three with her._ ’

‘ _Three humans or three pokemon?_ ’

‘ _Both._ ’

‘ _Wow, what a coincidence._ ’

‘ _You really don’t care about anyone that isn’t Sats, huh?_ ’

‘ _Don’t have business with ‘em, either way…_ ’

‘ _… Oh, camping, it looks. Damn, this kid started out just yesterday and she’s got herself three pokemon already. Tell Sats to step up her game, would’ja? She’s had one pokemon for her entire life and it doesn’t look like she’s planning on catching anymore._ ’

‘ _Hey, Shiro’s strong enough to handle anything and anyone!_ ’

‘ _Yeah, and then you come across an electric-type, and then boom._ ’

‘ _Shut up, Yin._ ’

‘ _No._ ’


End file.
